I remember we’d gotten into a conversation about the word irregardless, and how it had actually gotten into the dictionary. My first encounter with Rashida was in the same exact spot as with Paul - my desk, which is where I usually was.
I’m supposed to go meet with Woody Allen.” And I said, “Shut the fuck up.” He also booked a movie with Jane Campion, and he was super excited about that. But I remember the last phone call I had with him, he said to me, “I just got a message from my agent. And we talked about Raleigh (because I went to college in North Carolina), and we became friends and hung out a couple of times before left. What’s your name?” And I was like, “Whaa?!” He was super charming, super funny, super inclusive of me.
I remember him walking over to my desk, sitting at my desk, and saying, “Hi! I’m Paul. Because as far as I was concerned, he was famous. And I remember him coming into the bull pen - and I super was nervous. So on my first day, I remember I was sitting at my desk, filling up space as an extra. I always thought he was super, super talented, and I was surprised he was doing TV. Paul was one of the more exciting co-stars for me, because I loved him as an actor. Play an 8-Bit-Style Parks and Recreation Flappy Li’l Sebastian Video-Game But that was the first dialogue between Donna and Leslie. She was like, “Oh my God - outside? I did not see that coming.” I don’t think any of that made the episode. Leslie turns to me and says, “Donna, where’s this from?” And I said, “Outside.” After they yelled “Cut,” Amy died laughing. And this is Donna’s board.” There were things pinned to the board, including a leaf. So anyway, Amy walks over to me and says, as Leslie, “This is Donna. I mean, I improv now - but that’s after having spent years with great improv-ers. All I could think was, Oh my God - I hope she doesn’t say anything to me, because I have no idea what will come out of my mouth. I remember Leslie coming out of the office, pointing out different things in the office, and she walks over to my desk. I had no dialogue in the script I was glorified background at the time. Leslie was showing the cameras around the office. My very first interaction with Amy was in the pilot. Her stories confirm what we’ve long suspected: Like Pawnee, the set of Parks and Recreation was a pretty great place to live.
But they’re family.’” With Parks headed for the great TV beyond tonight, Vulture asked Retta to recount how she got to know (and sometimes love) the other main actors on the show, as well as their respective characters. “She sees the ridiculous stuff everyone does, and she kinda says to the audience, ‘I get it. (Two words: Treat yo’self.) “I personally see her as the voice of the audience,” Retta says of her on-air alter-ego.
Retta has been a series regular since season three, and Donna is easily one of the show’s most beloved (and meme-friendly) characters. “It was going to be a lot like The Office, where there wouldn’t be a lot in the beginning.” Creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels promised that would likely change as the show took shape - and they were true to their word. “That was part of the pitch to me for the show,” the actress explains.
Donna Meagle and her real-life counterpart Retta didn’t have much to do (or say) when Parks and Recreation began its run back in 2009.