Clearly the people over at Deadline are not big Parks & Recreation fans. Not only do they report some fantastic news with barely a paragraph of text, they include a picture of the man of the moment, Nick Offerman, without his now-trademark Ron Swanson mustache. Let's go back a second: the news is that Offerman has joined the cast of the movie formerly called Lamb of God, the drama that will serve as a directorial debut for Diablo Cody, who is of course the screenwriter behind Juno, Jennifer's Body and Young Adult. Julianne Hough is starring in the film as a deeply religious woman who then defects from the church after surviving a plane crash. Russell Brand co-stars as a man she meets when she decides to travel to Las Vegas and experience a wilder life, and back in October likely future Oscar winner Octavia Spencer signed on to play another Vegas resident.
It's been a while since we heard anything about the project, though Offerman signing on is probably evidence that they're starting production relatively soon-- when the project was officially announced, they planned a spring start date. Deadline isn't revealing the role Offerman will play, but it seems reasonable assume he's hanging out in Vegas, though it might be even more interesting for him to play the father of Hough's character. Offerman got the chance to break out of the Ron Swanson mold with a funny supporting role in the Sundance drama Smashed-- which also featured Octavia Spencer, as it turns out-- and i'm hoping Lamb of God, or whatever they call it, will give him more of a chance for the same. At the very least, he and Spencer need to have some scenes together-- they're both supporting players in Smashed but they're terrific in it.
And now, because any opportunity to write about Nick Offerman merits it, I give you Ron Swanson dancing in a tiny hat.
