What Has Adam Scott Been Up To Since “Parks And Recreation”?

Adam Scott joined the second season of Parks and Recreation as the mild-mannered, calzone-obsessed state auditor Ben Wyatt. The show was on air for seven seasons, and while the mockumentary didn’t quite reach the popularity of its unofficial predecessor, The Office, it still holds a special place in the hearts of sitcom lovers everywhere. Parks and Recreation stars Amy Poehler as the overeager, overachieving assistant director of the Pawnee Parks Department, Leslie Knope. The sitcom also stars Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Retta, Jim O’Heir, and Rob Lowe. In an interview with Daily Actor, Scott revealed that when he was asked to appear in Parks and Recreation, he didn’t initially know how sure a Ben-and-Leslie relationship would occur. “I mean I didn’t know. You know, we thought it might be, you know, Leslie and Ben might be a couple at some point. But I think it was sort of a wait and see sort of thing. Because, you know, we got together and didn’t quite click as a relationship. I mean, you know, I guess this is more a question for Mike [creator of Parks and Recreation]. But I sort of got the sense that we’re going to – you know, they were going to try that out and just see if it works. And if it didn’t, maybe find something else for me to do. I’m not really sure. But I don’t know. Mike, I guess that’s more a question for you because I don’t really totally know.” Adam Scott has been involved in a lot of projects since Parks and Recreation. What Has Adam Scott been up to since his days on the set of Parks and Recreation?

Adam Scott’s movie projects

One of Adam Scott’s biggest projects after Parks and Recreation is 2017’s Little Evil, co-starring Evangeline Lilly (Lost). The movie was mostly positively reviewed, with Joe Reid of The Decider writing that, with the antichrist angle removed, the movie actually portrays the anxieties of stepfatherhood pointedly. “Fears of everything from motherhood to our bodies to changing social norms have birthed some of the most terrifying and memorable horror movies. Horror comedy ups the difficulty level on pulling off something allegorical like that, but it’s exactly what a movie like Netflix’s Little Evil is trying to do. Written and directed by Eli Craig (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil), the film channels the anxieties and fears of fatherhood — in this particular case, step-fatherhood — by asking what would happen if your new wife’s kid was actually the antichrist.”

Adam also had a starring role in My Blind Brother, alongside Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate. In an interview with Uproxx, Scott described the difficult process behind playing a blind man. He didn’t have enough time to do research and talk to members of the blind community. One way he was able to prepare for the role, however, was by binging a YouTube channel called The Tommy Edison Experience. “I was on a job in New Zealand leading up to My Blind Brother, so I didn’t have the time or the facilities over there to really find the blind community and be able to do the research that I figured I needed. So whenever I had time I’d go on YouTube where I found this guy Tommy Edison’s channel. He’s blind and has tons of videos. There must be at least 100 of them about what it’s like not to be sighted, with everything from ‘This is what it’s like to make breakfast’ to ‘This is what it’s like crossing the street,’ to how the cane comes in handy, what he uses it for, all kind of his personal experience. Just his personal relationship with being blind and how it’s actually kind of cool sometimes, [how] it’s scary sometimes. Just a really honest and funny guy. That was really my main source of research.”

Adam Scott also had roles in Fun Mom Dinner, The Disaster Artist, and The Most Hated Woman in America.

Adam Scott’s TV projects

After Parks and Recreation, Adam Scott snagged a recurring role in another Michael Schur production, The Good Place, starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. Scott played Trevor, a demon who torments the main cast as they figure out how to get to the Good Place. His character in the show is the total opposite of Scott’s character in Parks and Recreation. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, show creator Michael Schur described how they developed the colorful language that Scott’s character uses in the series. “He calls Michael a ‘dingus,’” says Schur. “He’s used that word before, and Michael has used that word before, and it really started making us laugh. ‘Dingus’ appears to be the official insult of the Bad Place. It’s so childish and silly. He has a couple lines that I won’t spoil. Adam Scott is very facile with language, and we wrote him some real rollercoaster insults that he lays out. We also love that he always just hung out in bathrooms. And when they ask him why, he shrugs his shoulders and goes, ‘I like the smells.’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s my thing.’”

In 2017, Adam Scott starred in a Fox paranormal comedy series titled Ghosted, alongside The Office alum Craig Robinson. The show lasted for 16 episodes and was canceled after one season. Reviews for the show were mixed, with Scott D. Pierce of Salt Lake Tribune writing, “I like [Adam] Scott and [Craig] Robinson, and the pilot is handsomely produced. But all the humor falls flat – so it’s a comedy that’s not funny.” Rob Owen of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took note of its potential to be a funny X-Files, but eventually said that it needed to be funnier: “Sort of a comedic X-Files — but only mildly amusing — Ghosted needs to be funnier and less predictable if it hopes to win over TV viewers with thousands of options.”

Adam Scott has also appeared in Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, Do You Want To See A Dead Body?, I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman, The Twilight Zone, and Celebrity Escape Room.Jenny Slate