Aubrey Plaza once got a wake-up call from Nick Offerman, and appropriately enough, it involved coffee.
The Parks and Recreation star recalled how her former co-star stopped her from getting a little too comfortable with being waited on while filming an early season of the hit NBC sitcom.
Plaza, who was 24 when the series kicked off, admitted that actors can start behaving strangely on set because everyone around them treats them as though they can't do anything for themselves. Offerman apparently wasn't about to let that happen on his watch.
'Actors get treated like babies', she shared while speaking to Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast.
The 'Paternal' Coffee Epiphany
Plaza recalled sitting in her chair on set when a production assistant approached and asked whether she needed anything.
'Uh, sure. I'd take a coffee,' Plaza recalled responding.
Offerman happened to be sitting beside her reading a book when he overheard the exchange.
'Don't forget that you can get up and get your own coffee. It's right over there,' Plaza remembered him telling her.
The comment could easily have come across as a scolding, but Plaza said she didn't see it that way.
'I know that sounds kind of like an a-----e thing to say, but I didn't take it like that,' she explained.
Instead, the comment seemed to have snapped the young actress out of the strange bubble that can form around performers on a busy production. Plaza recounted immediately realising Offerman was right and deciding she didn't need a PA to walk across the set just to pour her a cup of coffee.
Why Aubrey Plaza Thinks Actors 'Get So Weird'
The story prompted Plaza to reflect on the unusually pampered environment actors can find themselves in while working.
'You know how when you're on set, actors get treated like babies, and it's such a weird vibe,' Plaza told Poehler. 'No wonder actors get so weird, because everyone treats you like a baby, like you can't do anything.'
She also remembered becoming something of a 'couch potato' while sitting around between scenes before Offerman's comment jolted her back to reality. More importantly, she claimed the lesson stuck: she hasn't asked someone to fetch her coffee since.
Amy Poehler understood exactly where Offerman was coming from, describing her former Parks and Recreation co-star as 'very paternal' on set and joking that he had 'daddy energy'.
That dynamic makes sense considering Plaza has also admitted she initially found Offerman intimidating and watched how he conducted himself on set, even attempting to replicate his behaviour as she found her footing in the industry.
Years later, Plaza clearly hasn't forgotten the lesson, calling both Offerman and Poehler the 'perfect balance of, like, professionalism and fun.'
Hollywood might tend to treat its actors like babies on busy film sets, but Offerman made sure his younger co-star remembered she could still take care of herself.
Sometimes, staying grounded really is as simple as waking up and smelling the coffee...and pouring it yourself.
