Nick Offerman Thinks Him And Ron Swanson Would Do Just Fine In Bill's Shoes In The Last Of Us
HBO's "The Last of Us" adapts many characters from the original video game quite faithfully, but every once in a while, some faces shine on the screen far more than they ever did in the source material. Such is the case with Nick Offerman's survivalist Bill. A relatively minor character in the game, Bill is explored quite a bit more in the show, courtesy of an awe-inspiring performance by Offerman. Season 1, Episode 3, titled "Long, Long Time" delves into Bill's story of love and loss during the apocalypse and how he manages to stay alive for as long as he does.
While Bill's survivalist nature makes him one of the most well-equipped characters in the wake of the virus outbreak, Offerman thinks he could manage to weather the storm with some efficiency if he were in the same situation. In fact, he even pointed to another one of his iconic performances, the nature-loving stoic Ron Swanson on "Parks and Recreation," as someone who could also handle the brutal landscape of "The Last of Us."
Offerman and Ron could make it, but not as well as Bill
In a talk show interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Nick Offerman was asked how he would fare if he was in the same situation as Bill on "The Last of Us." The star was confident that he and his other character Ron Swanson would do alright, though perhaps not as well as Bill. "I would do okay," the actor said. "I think Bill would do the best. Ron Swanson would do the second best."
The "Last of Us" star noted that he and Ron are acclimated to regular societal norms, while Bill is mostly solitary and focuses his efforts on being adaptable in the face of danger. "Ron and I both live in the world and we have relationships and that makes you soft, whereas Bill doesn't have relationships," Offerman explained. "He's a physicist, he's an engineer, he's an inventor. You know, Ron and I are making love with our wives and we're smoking meat items on our smokers."
While Offerman believes he doesn't stack up to Bill, he's actually quite crafty in real-life too. The TV star actually has decades' worth of experience as a carpenter, and he runs a woodshop (popularized by his "Parks and Rec" role) where he and his team handcraft everything from canoes to coffee tables. All told, it seems that Offerman would have a fair shot at surviving the apocalypse, whether it's him or any of his more rough-and-tumble performances on TV.