Nick Offerman is continuing to stick it to homophobes salty about his role in The Last of Us, and you just love to see it.
The Parks and Recreation actor took home an Independent Spirit Award over the weekend for portraying Bill in the massively successful HBO adaptation — just a month after earning his first Emmy for the same part.
After thanking HBO for “having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent,” Offerman reminded everyone exactly why telling a love story between two men was important, albeit brief, arc in the show.
“Stories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ we say, ‘Because you ask questions like that. It’s not a gay story it’s a love story, you asshole.’”
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When Offerman’s episode of The Last of Us aired last year, he admitted to being “fascinated by how openly people will express hate and brand themselves as bigots,” in response to the backlash to the plot line.
“I kept thinking, ‘We can see you!’” he told iNews at the time. “Because here were men saying: I’m a father and a Christian and a patriot and I hate queers.’”
“All these people want to do is love each other,” he added.
Despite the hate, the episode resonated with a lot of people, and Offerman has previously expressed interest in a spin-off centered around Bill and Frank (Murray Bartlett) set before their time on The Last of Us (which — spoiler alert — does not end happily for either of them).
Whether we’ll see more of those two or not is anyone’s guess at this point, but production on season two of The Last of Us is currently underway. And if homophobes hated a single episode with gay people, boy are they going to hate where things are headed!