Nick Offerman’s Wife Megan Mullally Told Him to Take The Last Of Us Role

Nick Offerman almost didn’t appear in HBO’s The Last of Us.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel LiveOfferman revealed he nearly said “no” to the role of Bill until his wife of nearly 20 years, Megan Mullallysuggested otherwise.

“I didn’t have time on the calendar to say ‘yes’ to this job, and my incredible goddess of a wife read [the script] — and she said ‘You’re going to Calgary, buddy,'” Offerman, 52, said. “‘Have fun! You have to do this.'”

Offerman’s character Bill is a lonesome survivor of the show’s apocalyptic-style events who is hesitant to form any sort of alliance with outsiders. However, Sunday night’s episode saw another side to the rough-edged survivalist — one of deep love and connection.

The episode went viral for bringing tears to the eyes of viewers as the show continues to gain widespread praise as an HBO success.

Of the high praise Offerman’s plotline has received, he told Jimmy Kimmel: “It’s a wonderful tsunami of plaudits.”

“The episode began airing on Sunday. We had 6.4 million viewers,” he continued. “HBO, they are so not f—ing around that they send me on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on Wednesday to cull the stragglers.”

He jokingly added, “The 17 of you that haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat!”

The Last of Us is inspired by the video game of the same name, which was released in 2013. The show follows two survivors — Joel and Ellie (Peter Pascal and Bella Ramsey) — an unlikely duo who work together to survive a fungal outbreak that has taken the lives (and consciousness) of most of humanity.

HBO has already given the acclaimed drama an early season 2 renewal.

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The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.