With the sixth season of Parks And Recreation due to air next month, the programme’s star Amy Poehler reveals why you should catch up on previous episodes and why her cast could perform in Game of Thrones.
Funny woman Amy Poehler forms part of the new age comedy bratpack. Like many actors before her, she cut her teeth on Saturday Night Live before landing the lead role as Leslie Knope on small-town government spoof Parks And Recreation. Here, she chats about the cast, the upcoming season (set to debut late next month) and playing a hard-worker. If you’re not already a fan, we suggest you play catch up with season one to five immediately.
The end of last season was crazy – Nick Offerman’s character, Ron Swanson, is having a baby?
Ron’s going to have a baby, that’s for sure, and Leslie had her first real rival, played by the wonderful Jon Glaser. She was kind of disillusioned by her first year in [City Council] office. And April might leave the government. There’s a lot of stuff happening, which is exciting.
That’s one of the best things about the show. The characters aren’t stagnant, but their growth feels natural.
Totally. We always talk about how if the show continued, Andy would be mayor of the town. His growth, and April’s growth, is so awesome. They’ve come a long way. I like that the writers push things.
Last season, Leslie brought up the idea of starting a family with her husband, Ben. Since she is so driven and so career-oriented, how do you think she would handle the work-life balance of being a mum?
She would probably have a hard time. Balance – I wouldn’t say that’s a word that necessarily describes her well. I think she would go in guns a-blazing and kind of… She’d be a little all over the place, I have to say.
Thinking about the type of mum Leslie Knope would be is kind of hard because she’s so, well, Leslie Knope.
She would be alternately incredibly nurturing and at the same time single-minded and pushy [Laughs].
The show has such a great cast. What other shows do you guys look to for inspiration?
We always joke that Parks is like the comedy Wire. [Laughs] If the Wire was a comedy and it was a small town. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again: I think our cast is the best on TV in comedy or drama. If you put our cast in any other show – Game Of Thrones, Mad Men – we’d all be able to deliver. Singing, dancing, drama, documentary – all of it.
So if the cast of Parks And Recreation were dropped into Game Of Thrones, who would be whom?
Well, come on, I would be Khaleesi [Daenerys Targaryen], of course. Ben would probably be Jon Snow, because he’s so tormented. Ron would be Stannis Baratheon.
Parks And Recreation season five is available from Dhs110 at www.amazon.com. Season six airs on September 26, find it on iTunes, www.apple.com/itunes.
