Adam Scott reveals Aubrey Plaza’s note after the first reading of ‘Parks and Rec’

Why be boring and welcome someone to the cast of your show with a gift basket when you could slip them a powerful little message?

That’s exactly how Aubrey Plaza celebrated Adam Scott joining Parks and Recreation Occupation after his first table reading. “I remember breathing an audible sigh of relief at the end of the table reading,” Scott reveals in Jim O’Heir’s new book Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation. But then “Aubrey came up to me and handed me a piece of paper that was folded very tightly.”

“Do you remember that movie? Shutter Island “Where Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo go to the psychiatric hospital and I think someone gives them a note? ‘ just like in the movie. It was a perfect welcome.”

You don’t have to know Plaza well to appreciate her unique blend of zany and dry humor. Not to mention her love of pranks. But you’d have to be as open-minded as Scott not to be a little intimidated by an actress who’s comfortable in her lead role on a network sitcom and who tells you to freak out before you’ve even recorded the first scene. Even if, given its context in the zeitgeist, it was clearly meant in jest.

Luckily, Scott was “a big fan of the show, an avid viewer” when he got the call to audition, so he knew Plaza more than well Parks Showrunner Michael Schur calls him an “agent of chaos.” Welcome to Pawnee.

Scott remembers “hearing about it.” Office I think it was a year before I actually auditioned when I told my agent I wanted to be in it. At the time, he had just finished filming the second season of the Starz comedy Party downand wasn’t sure how much to believe the rumors that the show was being canceled. He also “originally auditioned for Mark,” the character Paul Schneider played for two seasons.

Once he had it from a good source Party down did not move forward with a third season, and the Schur and Parks When creator Greg Daniels had a new character in mind, Scott set course for Pawnee and sailed full steam ahead.

Scott passed his audition with ease and was rewarded with the star role of Ben Wyatt, the dimwitted state auditor and former child mayor who becomes the main paramour of series lead Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).

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In an interview with GQScott revealed that he “actually auditioned for the show before it even aired” but “kind of screwed it up.” His first audition was for a character named Josh, who was intended to be a love interest for Rashida Jones’ Ann. That role likely evolved into Mark, who served as Ann’s leading man and who Scott confirmed he was auditioning for Welcome to Pawnee.

In a fascinating piece Parks Nick Offerman, who eventually landed the lead role of Ron Swanson, the grumpy director of the parks department, also auditioned for Josh, he revealed in his 2015 memoir Paddle your own canoe. It’s hard to imagine that one Parks and Recreation without Scott, with Offerman as Mark and Schneider nowhere to be found.