“Parks and Rec continues to have this importance in people’s lives. I think people are as infatuated with it now more than they were when it was actually on the air,” Lowe told Parade.com in a new interview. “I thought [Parks and Recollection] would be a really good sort of gift back to all of the fans that love the show so much to do an episode-by-episode, behind-the-scenes look back.” Lowe played the health-conscious and overly optimistic Chris Traeger on the beloved comedy that came to an end in 2015 after seven seasons. The St. Elmo’s Fire actor and his podcast cohost Alan Yang, who was a writer on Parks, are now taking listeners back to Pawnee, Indiana, as they work their way through the entire show, one episode at a time. “I’m a big fan of podcasts in this genre. Obviously, I’m partial to the West Wing Weekly, which did the same thing with The West Wing and I’m a big listener of Office Ladies, which does the same with The Office,” Lowe said. “It’s a cool space just for fans who have a show that they love to find out something new and dissect episodes that they maybe already know by heart and they’re still getting new sort of Easter eggs and new presents and new ways to look at the show itself.” Continue reading for more on Parks and Recreation and how it gave Lowe his first-ever catchphrase, plus why the Hollywood star, who is a brand spokesperson for Atkins, is “glad” his character Chris isn’t a real person.
What do you miss most about Parks and Recreation?
I miss most the experience of doing it because everybody on the show loved everybody. We’re all still friends. Everybody was so talented. Everybody was so industrious on their own outside of the show with stand-up comedy tours and movies they were starring it. You name it, everybody had a really huge life professionally beyond just Parks, which made it super interesting and you miss that camaraderie and that team. I miss playing on that team.
And what about Chris? I have to imagine he ranks pretty high in the characters you’ve played over the years.
For sure. I mean, one of the things I’m always just so humbled by and grateful is that you never really know what character it is that people are going to respond to and I’ve been lucky to have a bunch of them, but Chris is up there. What I miss about Chris was that that character, more than anything else, just 100 percent of the time, brought a smile to people’s faces. It’s just a beloved, beloved character and just made people feel good and laugh.
How often do you watch Parks and Rec? Was that something you binged last year during quarantine/COVID when we were all at home?
It’s funny, I know a lot of people who did and now that I’m doing the podcast it’s just the best excuse ever to go back and look at it and I’m always struck with remembering what I was actually doing in my personal life. Like I’ll watch an episode and go, ‘Oh, I remember that’s the day that my wife and kids and I adopted a dog on the way home from work and that dog is now eight years old or whatever.’ Or, ‘Oh yeah, that was I remember right before the Christmas break and you know we were planning on where we were going to—’ You look at your own personal life through the lens of your work. That’s super fun to go back into, but I have a real excuse to go back and look at every single one of them now.
Last year the cast reunited virtually during COVID. Would you reprise the role of Chris again if another opportunity presented itself in, say, a reboot or another reunion?
Anytime anybody wants to put that team back on the field, I would be happy to get back in that batting order. It’s a team from Mike Schur, Greg Daniels, who created it, to all of the other actors. We would need everybody. That’s the other thing, since Parks, it’s not like everybody faded away into obscurity. Everybody’s kind of just continued on that trajectory, so it’d be awfully hard to get everybody back because everybody has such amazing opportunities, but it would be fun.
It was probably easier last year just because everyone was at home and you could sign on and do it virtually.
Yes, we literally, literally did not have to leave our own houses to do it.
What is the origin story of how “literally” became Chris’ catchphrase?
It apparently is a word that I overuse and Mike Schur when he met me and we started talking about building the character made note of it, and then wrote it into the script. And then the more I did it, the funnier it was and it took on a life of its own, and it became my very first-ever catchphrase. Having been an actor for almost 40 years I never had my own catchphrase, and I gotta say, it was pretty exciting to get one.
I love that it became the name of your podcast, Literally!.
That’s right. It was a little nod to the Parks and Rec era and now every time I actually say that word I kind of hesitate before I do it because I feel like I’m becoming a caricature of myself.
Ballpark, how many times a day do you think you say literally?
Less than I used to because now I’m so conscious of it.
Your character on Parks and Rec was very into health and fitness. Do you think Chris would be on Atkins today?
I’m glad Chris Traeger isn’t a real person because then he would be the Atkins spokesman and I would not. So, that’s a lucky break. Yeah, Chris would be very down with this. And it’s kind of why I’ve enjoyed my now long-term relationship with Atkins because it’s kind of a mind meld. I’ve always been health-conscious, super fit, active, [and] energetic. Chris Traeger, I think, sort of drafted on my own sort of persona a little bit, and then the Atkins relationship just continues it because I’m a big believer in taking care of your body. Chris Traeger said his body is a microchip. And you know, microchips need to be taken care of, so that’s why I like working for Atkins because it gives me a way to share with everybody little things that you can do every single day to take care of your own microchip.
Atkins recently kicked off a campaign celebrating small wins. How do you like to celebrate your small wins?
This is why I’m super excited about Atkins Small Wins because I set myself up for success and not failure. And that’s super important, particularly for people who may not be as motivated as I happen to be. So it’s the little things that are easy to do that cumulatively build up and give you confidence and inspire you. And it’s got an extra hour of sleep, move your body every day. You don’t have to go to the gym, but you can take a walk. You can do a set of push-ups. Reduce your sugar and carbs for the weekend. You don’t have to do it all week, just see how it goes this weekend. And you put down the building blocks for a great foundation. I have a really insane sweet tooth. So, instead of going and getting a Häagen-Dazs milkshake, I will do an Atkins chocolate shake. And that’s a small tangible thing I could do that really helps.
Do you have any goals that you’re working towards right now?
Yeah. I finished a movie in the hiatus where I played like a regular dad. And so I sort of stopped my training, and now I’m back on 9-1-1: Lone Star, where I play a fire captain and it’s incredibly physical. Lots of stunts, big action sequences, so I’m trying to build back my stamina, frankly. And with the long hours that I do, it’s very, very hard to get in the time to train, so I’m having to really focus on getting back into my training routine.
How do you stay focused to make sure you reach these goals?
So it’s attainable goals that are realistic. And then once you’ve got some success with those goals, going to the next level of attainable goals that are realistic. And you just continue that process and then in a couple of months or in a year, you’re gonna look back and just be blown away at the progress. And for me, it’s mostly about what I’m putting into my body, and that’s really reducing the carbs, really trying to cut sugar. It doesn’t require any time to do that. And Atkins makes it super easy to do that with the free app and the products. It’s super, super sustainable. This interview has been edited for length and clarity Next, “I Regret Nothing”—55 Timeless Ron Swanson Quotes From Parks and Recreation
