The “insane” 1980s movie soundtrack Nick Offerman adores
(Credits: David Hubelbank / Montclair Film)
To anyone who only knew Nick Offerman from his role as the curmudgeonly, tech-fearing Ron Swanson in the brilliant comedy series Parks and Recreation, then there were two moments in the following ten years which really made them sit up and take notice.
The first was when he appeared in the acclaimed Alex Garland sci-fi miniseries Devs as the long-haired CEO of a futuristic software company, and the second, the one that really caused jaws to drop and people to rethink what they knew about Offerman, was the incredible performance he put in throughout the third episode of the first season of The Last of Us.
It was a piece of television that took everyone by surprise, not just because it was a zombie thriller that suddenly switched pace to become a gentle, thought-provoking slice of family drama, but also due to Offerman’s against-type, incredibly tender performance as one half of a mature gay couple hiding out in the suburbs after the undead apocalypse.
Offerman deservedly picked up an Emmy for the episode the following year, and career-wise, it felt like an important step for him after being so recognisable as Swanson for so long. Since then, he has teamed up with Garland again to play the President in the unbearably tense 2024 movie Civil War, and somewhat on a theme, is also very good in the recently released Sovereign, a movie about a father and son convinced the government is out to get them.
In a chat with the excellent Rich Pelley of the Guardian, Offerman last month referenced a classic 1980s movie as one of his most revered films, a time-travelling, all-action epic that he once forced his Parks and Rec co-star to sit and watch, and of which he once hosted a special 30th anniversary screening.
He said: “Highlander is one of my favourite films. It’s an incredible movie of sword-fighting with Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as the Kurgan, the evil Russian villain, who I’d take over Darth Vader any day. The soundtrack is by Queen. It’s insane. Chris Pratt had never seen Highlander, so I booked a screening room in the middle of the afternoon at the studio where we were shooting Parks and Recreation, and we watched it by ourselves.”
The full Highlander soundtrack has never been officially released, featuring music by Michael Kamen and a host of Queen songs, including ‘One Year of Love’ and the song Brian May wrote specifically for the movie, ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’. Another Queen song, ‘Princes of the Universe’ was also used as the title music to a Highlander TV series released after the film. Eventually, Queen released the album ‘A Kind of Magic’, which was based on the music they put forward for the movie.
Offerman is perhaps unsurprisingly quite excited at the prospect of the Highlander remake, which is currently in production and will star Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe. Despite filming being delayed due to an injury suffered by Cavill, the reboot is still expected to hit cinemas at some point in 2026.
He didn’t get a call-up to be in the movie but doesn’t seem too upset about it, adding: “Why aren’t I in the remake? That’s a great question. There’s this Australian bloke … Russell something … and people seem to keep leaning in his direction.”
Offerman, meanwhile, will be seen next year in Apple TV+’s drama Margo’s Got Money Troubles alongside Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning in the adaptation about a young mother turning to OnlyFans to get out of debt, plus he’ll co-star in a historical drama from Netflix opposite Michael Shannon called Death by Lightning.
As if that weren’t enough, he will also, brilliantly, be the voice of a grumpy sea-dweller in an animated film called The Pout-Pout Fish.
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