List of Parks and Recreation characters: Difference between revisions

The primary characters of the American television comedy series Parks and Recreation are the employees of the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional Indiana town. The protagonist is Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the deputy parks director as well as serving on city council, and the rest of the ensemble cast consists of her friends and co-workers, including nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), parks director Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), and parks department employees Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), Jerry Gergich (Jim O’Heir), and Donna Meagle (Retta).

While most of the main cast have been with the series since it debuted in April 2009, actors Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joined the cast late in the second season portraying Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt, two state auditors who later take permanent jobs in Pawnee. Paul Schneider was a regular cast member during the first two seasons as city planner Mark Brendanawicz, but he departed at the end of season two. Billy Eichner who portrays Craig Middlebrooks, the “associate administrator” of the Pawnee parks department, recurred throughout the show’s sixth season until he was promoted to the main cast in the fourth episode of the seventh season. The majority of Parks and Recreation episodes are set in Pawnee, and most of the recurring and supporting characters are friends of the main characters or residents of the town.

Several guest stars have made appearances on the show, including Louis C.K., John Larroquette, Justin Theroux and Parker Posey. Megan Mullally, Offerman’s real-life wife, played his character’s ex-wife Tammy Swanson, and Poehler’s former husband Will Arnett made an appearance as a man on a blind date with Leslie. Several of Poehler’s past colleagues on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live have appeared on Parks and Recreation, including Fred Armisen, Will Forte and Andy Samberg.

Cast overview

Main cast

Each of the following primary characters were played by members of the Parks and Recreation regular cast, rather than guest stars or non-regular supporting cast members.^[1][2]

Leslie Knope

Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) is the deputy director of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department, and the protagonist of Parks and Recreation. Leslie is a passionate, hard-working and ambitious woman who loves her hometown of Pawnee and, unlike many around her, has not lost her optimism in the face of government bureaucracy.^[3][4] She believes strongly in the mission of her job, sometimes going over-the-top in her dedication to helping people.^[5] Her dream is to become the first female President of the United States.^[6] During the first two seasons, Leslie seeks to turn a construction pit into a park, despite several government obstacles and red tape.^[7][8] When the parks department is hindered by Pawnee’s budget problems, Leslie successfully relaunches the town’s harvest festival, which makes her department sustainable again.^[9] The third season ends with political scouts approaching her about possibly running for elected office, although she declines to inform them of her secret affair with Ben Wyatt, which could prove to be a political scandal.^[10] In season four, Leslie furthers her political ambitions when she successfully runs for city council. Season 5 focused mainly on Leslie’s experiences on the Pawnee City Council. In season six, however, she is recalled and returns full-time to work in the Parks and Recreation department.

Ann Perkins

Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), Leslie’s best friend, is a nurse who eventually takes a part-time position with Pawnee’s department of public health.^[11][12] Ann and Leslie meet after Ann requests at a town meeting that an abandoned construction pit be filled, and Leslie pushes to have it turned into a park.^[7] Even before getting her part-time Pawnee job, Ann often spent time at city hall and helped the parks department on their endeavors due to her friendship with Leslie.^[11][12] Ann was dating Andy Dwyer at the start of the show, but she broke up with him after the first season after learning Andy faked the severity of an injury so that Ann would pamper him.^[13][14] She started dating city planner Mark Brendanawicz, but they split up by the end of the second season.^[15] Ann briefly dated Chris Traeger until he broke up with her,^[16] leaving Ann…