Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman are taking the Oscars back to Pawnee.
The former Parks and Recreation costars had something of a reunion at the Dolby Theatre tonight for the 97th annual Academy Awards when Offerman jokingly mispronounced Poehler’s name while announcing the evening’s next presenters.
“Amy Poe-ell-er?” he questioned, as if encountering the name for the first time.
Poehler attended the Academy Awards tonight to present the nominees for Best Original Screenplay. “I believe it was William Shakespeare who said, ‘Writing is a bitch,'” she ribbed, before announcing Anora scribe Sean Baker as the winner. She then presented the Best Adapted Screenplay award to Peter Straughan, the screenwriter of Conclave.
Offerman is the official announcer of the evening. The Civil War star took over the role originated by former President Ronald Reagan in 1953 from last year’s announcer, David Alan Grier. Offerman’s brusque yet spirited pronouncements as the “voice of God” have so far ushered presenters like Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn onto the stage, offered interesting tidbits about winners like Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell, and more.
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Poehler and Offerman starred in Parks and Rec together throughout the series’ full seven-season run. Offerman played Ron Swanson, the gruff, libertarian-leaning head of the Pawnee, Ind., parks and recreation department. In that role, he oversaw Poehler’s Leslie Knope, the department’s deputy director, whose eternal optimism and good faith couldn’t have contrasted more with Swansons’ cynical grumpiness.
In a recent look back at the show 15 years since its premiere, Poehler and Offerman revealed that they regularly made out at the end of scenes each season in hopes of making the blooper reel. “The crew would hate it,” Poehler joked.
“Working with Nick was a gift,” Poehler continued. “He uses five words when Leslie uses 100. He’s super private, and Leslie lives everything out loud, so it was super fun to bounce up against him.”
Neither Poehler nor Offerman has ever been nominated for an Academy Award, but Poehler did make a memorable appearance opening the 2019 awards alongside her fellow SNL alums Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. The ceremony was not hosted that year after comedian Kevin Hart was tapped for the role but subsequently stepped down after homophobic social media remarks resurfaced.