Nick Offerman Wishes He Could Share ‘Last of Us’ Emmy With Murray Bartlett: ‘Without Frank, Bill Ain’t S–t’

Nick Offerman won his first Primetime Emmy Award at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys for his emotional performance in “The Last of Us” Season 1, Episode 3 — an honor that, in another world, he’d have hoped to share with his costar Murray Bartlett.

“Friends, I was fortunate enough to receive a very nice winged Emmy accolade figurine last night for my work as Bill in @TheLastofUsHBO written by the indomitable @clmazin,” Offerman tweeted on Sunday, crediting showrunner Craig Mazin. “It’s hard to fully swallow because the role was in an inseparable partnership with the magnificent #MurrayBartlett, so I wish they had two trophies to give. Without Frank, Bill ain’t s–t.”

Offerman and Bartlett starred in the acclaimed bottle episode, “Long, Long Time,” as Bill and Frank, two men who in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse learn to live off the land for years to come — and who slowly become lovers along the way.

Saturday’s win marked Offerman’s fourth Primetime Emmy Award nomination, though none were for his comedic work on “Parks & Recreation.” He’d previously been nominated three times alongside “Making It” cohost Amy Poehler for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.

Barlett won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2022 for “White Lotus” Season 1. He was again nominated in the same category for “Welcome to Chippendales” and for his guest work on “The Last of Us.”

In his tweet Sunday, Offerman shared a transcript of his acceptance speech, which you can read in full below:

“Fortune presents gifts not according to the book.

“Thank you to the Academy for this pat on the back, and even for counting me among my fellow nominees, especially my magnificently generous partner and rightly lauded Aussie top man — the Girth from Perth — Murray Bartlett, without whom it would have been awfully tough to pull off a beautiful, richly-veined two-hander. Thank you to HBO and Carolyn Strauss for continuing to produce wildly entertaining programs like this that arc toward decency and inclusivity, to Neil Druckman for thinking it up, Peter Hoar for conducting, Eben Bolter for shooting it and Timothy Good for cutting it together. Connie Parker, Joanna Moreau, Chris Glimsdale, Greg Ouch and Cynthia Ann Summers for mollycoddling me on set and creating my sexy-ursine-prepper look, and the rest off the astonishing band of artists on ‘The Last of Us,’ too many to name (Pedro), who crafted this episode with such exquisite care. But goddammit, folks, we would all just be standing around with our thumbs in our asses if Craig Main had not written this script. This was the best script I’ve ever been handed. If you enjoy what we do, then it’s always and only because the writing issue good, and I’m so grateful to be able to participate in this tradition of ‘storytelling as medicine,’ with which we demonstrate our devotion to each other, because as Wendell Berry says, it all turns on affection.

“Speaking of, Megyn Mullally is not only my bride and legal property, she is my muse and my acting teacher and I would certainly not be standing here without her patient tutelage and that is not a euphemism. Thank you to Jo, Josh, Jay and Matt at UTA, plus Peter Sample. Harumi, Albena and Max. Thank you powerfully to Mother Nature and Linda Ronstadt, each for their particular strawberries. And finally to my own mom and dad, who taught me to use tools in the kitchen and the garden and the woodshed as an expression of love and fidelity, by way of what we do to care for each other, which we have learned once again from Craig Mazin in this episode, is the whole damn point. Thank you.“

“The Last of Us” Season 1 is now streaming in full on Max.

The post Nick Offerman Wishes He Could Share ‘Last of Us’ Emmy With Murray Bartlett: ‘Without Frank, Bill Ain’t S–t’ appeared first on TheWrap.