Nick Offerman is reflecting on the woodworking accident that permanently changed the way he works in the shop.
The “Parks and Recreation” actor, who has spent decades building furniture and working with wood outside of his acting career, recently spoke with Family Handyman about the closest he has come to suffering a life-changing injury. The experience, he said, reinforced the importance of putting safety ahead of any project or deadline.
Offerman, who appears on the cover of Family Handyman’s 75th anniversary issue as the magazine’s first celebrity editor, said the incident happened after a long day in the workshop.
Nick Offerman Says Exhaustion Led to His Closest Workshop Accident
Looking back, Offerman described the moment that left a lasting impression on him.
“It was a very late night,” he told Family Handyman. “I tried to catch a spinning router that was falling off the bench.”
The decision resulted in a painful injury.
“I took off half a fingertip,” he recalled. “And never worked to that point of exhaustion again.”
The actor said the accident remains the closest he has come to suffering permanent damage while woodworking.
Now 56, Offerman hopes others can learn from his experience before finding themselves in a similar situation.
“Having made it to the ripe old age of 56 with all 10 fingers intact, I am here to shout that any tool use, inside the shop or garage or out, should begin with safety first,” he said.
He emphasized that no project is worth risking a serious injury.
“Your eyes, ears, lungs and appendages are all worth way more than any project or deadline or wage,” Offerman continued. “Respect your tools … and your workspace” to improve the chances of “keeping your fingers.”
The ‘Parks and Rec’ Star Says Woodworking Helped Launch His Acting Career
Although many fans know Offerman as Ron Swanson from “Parks and Recreation,” woodworking has been part of his life even longer than acting.
Speaking with People in an earlier interview, Offerman said his father built the family’s childhood home, giving him an appreciation for craftsmanship from an early age.
“There’s something conspiratorial about that, banding your family together in a piratical way and saying, ‘Okay, me hearty family, what can we make together to make us special and make our lives authentic and different from all those stupid landlubbers that live in the rest of the town?'”
Offerman said those practical skills became an unexpected advantage as he pursued acting.
“My own skills have made me very powerful and capable in my life, which has made me very valuable to people,” he explained.
Rather than being hired solely as an actor, Offerman said his woodworking abilities often helped him get his foot in the door.
“They didn’t say, ‘Oh, it’s Tom Cruise, let’s make him the lead in our movie.’ They say, ‘So we’ve got Tom Cruise, but see that guy over there? He can build the scenery. Give him three lines and he will happily build the set.’ And he did, and that was me, and eventually they cast me as a guy who was a woodworker. And it was my big break.”
