Chris Pratt is now a household name among Marvel fans for his iconic role as Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which recently concluded with the hugely successful release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That said, some may be surprised to learn that Pratt's blossoming career as a leading man almost didn't happen. That's because Pratt's breakout role as the lovable and hysterical Andy Dwyer from the hit sitcom Parks and Recreation was initially intended to be a one-off rather than a full-blown series regular.
Who Exactly is Andy Dwyer in 'Parks and Recreation'?
Image via NBC
In short, Andy wasn't intended to be a fleshed-out regular member of the cast and was instead used to give Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) a way into the show's plot. In the Pilot episode of Parks and Recreation, Ann is introduced as a way to give the audience a perspective on this wacky government sitcom from an average person. While yes, the ensemble cast is primarily led by Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), Ann is largely meant to be the voice of reason among the other characters' wacky antics and ideas, asking the more reasonable questions that those watching at home are probably asking themselves.
Ann makes her debut in the show at one of the many public meetings overseen by Leslie Knope. She's introduced as a nurse whose boyfriend has fallen into a massive pit and broken his legs. She asks the Parks Department to do something about the hazard, and this ultimately becomes the first step in a long friendship between Ann and Leslie. However, who is that boyfriend who was allegedly injured by the pit? Why it was Andy Dwyer, of course. When Leslie comes to Ann and Andy's home to get more information on the pit, we see that Andy is somewhat of a lazy man-child, laying on the couch all day while Anne works hard as a nurse.
Granted, Andy does have an excuse for his laziness, as he has two broken legs because of the pit. At least, that's what he told everyone, but as it turns out, Andy was lying about his injury and faked his broken bones. Andy didn't really do this for an overly malicious reason but rather, so he could lie around the house all day and be cared for by Ann. That said, when his girlfriend finds out, Ann kicks him out of the house, and Andy goes to live in the pit. Leslie feels bad for the lovable goofball and helps him get a job as a shoe shiner at the Parks Department.
Andy's Job as a Shoe Shiner Grows Into Something Much More
Leslie's act of pity for Andy, surprisingly, turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to the once-selfish but still-childish adult. For starters, Andy gets a second chance at love when he meets April (Aubrey Plaza) - the nihilistic intern whose childish attitude matches his own. The two eventually get married, and that's only one element of Andy Dwyer skyrocketing success.
Before getting his job as a shoe shiner, Andy spent most of his time as the lead guitarist and singer of Mouse Rat, a rock band that has had more name changes than Andy can count. After doing a somewhat sort of okay job as a shoe shiner, Andy eventually tries to help out the office even more as Leslie's personal assistant, even helping her with her health symptoms when he goes on his computer and thinks she may have "internet connectivity problems". Andy did once have aspirations beyond the Parks Department, once trying to join the Pawnee police department. Andy went into something of an existential crisis when the Police Academy rejected him, but he did get some similar experience when he worked as a security guard.
Years later, in the show's last season, which takes place in 2025, Andy has long since moved on from his days as a rock star, shoe shiner, personal assistant, and security guard. In this period, Andy has somehow become the star of a hit children's show, titled "Johnny Karate's Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show". Apart from his career as a tv show star, Andy spends the rest of his time on the show with the love of his life April, while still being close friends with Leslie, Ann, and the rest of the Parks gang.
Andy's Fleshed-Out Story in 'Parks and Recreation' Makes His Original Small Role Even More Surprising
Andy's story in Parks and Recreation is one of the show's best, packing in all manner of humor, heart, and entertainment. This makes his initial role in the show as a guest star in Season 1 even more surprising, as it feels like his story has been a part of the plan since the very start.
So what happened exactly? How did Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer go from a minor guest character into a fully-fledged cast member? Well, to put it simply, Chris Pratt (an almost completely unknown actor at the time) was just so good in the role and the character ended up being endlessly endearing for both the audience and the rest of the cast and crew. Following his significant guest debut in the hugely successful Season 1 of Parks and Recreation, Pratt was promoted to a series regular in Season 2. Co-creator of Parks and Recreation, Michael Schur, expanded on Pratt's promotion while also discussing how the character of Andy has evolved from its inception, saying they "originally conceived of Andy as a character who would fade away after the first six or so, but Chris was so great we had to make him full-time".
Apart from Andy already being a likable character, Pratt's dedicated performance was also certainly a factor in keeping Andy Dwyer around. It's no secret that Pratt employed a ton of improvisation in his time on the show, with the crew sometimes letting the camera run on him for several long takes as he rattled off tons of hysterical names, such as he did for the many titles of his rock band. If Andy Dwyer were played by anyone else, there's a good chance he would have faded into obscurity like short-lived Season 1 regular Mark Brenanawicz (Paul Schneider). Thanks to Pratt, not only did we get one of the funniest sitcom characters of the 21st century, we also got the man who would become the Legendary Star-Lord.
All seven seasons of Parks and Recreation are available to stream on Peacock.