Chris Pratt worried that some jokes about Jim O’Heir’s “Parks and Rec” character were 'meaner than they were funny'

Writing the character of Jerry Gergich (Jim O'Heir) on Parks and Recreation was always delicate dance — serving the audience the mean-spirited jokes they craved, without them ever coming too much at O'Heir's expense. Fortunately, the actor found an ally and watchdog in the form of his costar Chris Pratt.

"I remember you, particularly more than some others, being worried about some of the Jerry bits being...mean," O'Heir says in a conversation with Pratt in his book Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation. "I remember you saying, 'Jimmy, you okay with these?'... Do you remember that feeling at all?"

Related: Jim O'Heir didn't like Newt Gingrich's cameo on Parks and Rec: 'Remind me to throw up'

Pratt responded, "I do, I do. I was concerned in some of those moments because I care about you and I love you, and I knew that there were some jokes that were, like, mean. But meaner than they were funny. If it's a joke, it's funny. But if it's mean for the sake of being mean, well, I’m not a huge fan of mean-spirited humor, and I just wanted to check in on you."

The Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World star specifically recalled "one time where I put my foot down on something... There was that time you use the printer and it says something like, 'Jerry sucks' on a piece of paper, and I just said, 'I don’t think that's funny. I don't know about it.' For the most part, I rolled with it, but there were a couple times where I think it went too far and I was concerned for you."

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For seven seasons, O'Heir's Jerry Gergich (who was variously called Gary, Larry, Lenny, and Terry, because his Parks colleagues couldn't be bothered to learn his actual name) played the straight man. While Tom (Aziz Ansari) was buffoonishly hustle-culturing it up, April (Aubrey Plaza) was drolly scheming her colleagues' downfalls, and Donna (Retta) was treating herself, the whole office was making Jerry the butt of the joke.

The Jerry character is a critical cog in the Parks humor machine. He grounds the show in a deadpan realism that heightens the potency of the jokes and allows the other characters to go bigger without losing believability. But it's (potentially) a lot to ask of one actor to shoulder.

Related: 15 things we learned about Parks and Recreation from Jim O'Heir's Welcome to Pawnee memoir

Reflecting on his own Parks experience, O'Heir shared that "My theory was, 'It’s funny and these are just jobs. I’m happy to be around." But still, he expressed appreciation to Pratt for his solidarity. "Just so you know, that meant the world to me. You checked in on me, [Amy Poehler] checked in on me, and it’s not like I expected everyone to check in on me, but the fact that you did was so special."

Pratt theorized that he and O'Heir's bond may have been forged in their mutual roots in the Midwest, "and people from the Midwest — their love language is, like, teasing. You learn to take your lumps and roll with it — I did at least — and I was never overly concerned you couldn’t take care of yourself, but if it ever went too far, I wanted you to know I was there for you."

Even on the show, Pratt's hyper-charged goofball Andy Dwyer never participated much in the weekly Jerry pile-ons. Their behind-the-scenes connection was immortalized in their on-screen dynamic.

Related: Chris Pratt started 'breaking s---' to save Parks and Recreation from cancellation: 'I wanted to damage stuff'

O'Heir remains thankful for his Pawnee pal, telling him, "You have the biggest heart, and I don't mean it from a medical perspective."

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