TV actor Nick Offerman helps open deadCenter Film Festival

Nick Offerman arrived at the Chesapeake Boathouse for the opening of the 12th annual deadCenter Film Festival just as the rainstorm hit the area Wednesday afternoon, but the “Parks and Recreation” star's view of Oklahoma City could not be dampened by the weather.

“I have become such a big fan of Oklahoma City,” said Offerman, who was introduced to the city by his wife, Megan Mullally.

Offerman will introduce his new film, “Somebody Out There Likes Me,” at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Harkins Theatres in Bricktown.

“I have been with Megan for 12 years and just in those 12 years I've seen a blossoming of culture in town, in the restaurant scene, in the theater scene, the stuff they're doing at Lyric,” he said. “This film festival feels like another part of that. It's thrilling that a film as interesting as ours would be celebrated in Oklahoma City.”

Rain forced organizers to set up an indoor screening at the Devon Boathouse for the opening film “Marley,” originally planned for an open-air debut along the Oklahoma River.

Offerman, who plays the meat-loving, anti-government civil servant Ron Swanson on “Parks and Recreation,” brought “Somebody Up There Likes Me” to the festival with the film's writer-director, Bob Byington, who wrote the part of Sal specifically for the actor. The film, which premiered at Austin's South By Southwest Film and Music Festival in March, covers 35 years in the friendship between Sal and Max, played by Keith Poulson of the indie rock band Bishop Allen.

“My character is especially concerned with his hedonism and a little bit of greed, and he has an eye for the ladies,” Offerman said. “It's funny and pithy without trying too hard and has a great sense of realism — the film requires a lot of thinking on the part of the audience, but there's also a lot of laughter.