(Reuters) – Someone has a big crush on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden – and now she is getting to meet him.
Biden will make his TV acting debut with a cameo on NBC’s comedy “Parks and Recreation” as the celebrity crush of actress Amy Poehler’s ditzy local councilwoman Leslie Knope, NBC said on Thursday.
Biden, 69, will play himself in the episode “Leslie vs. April,” airing November 15, where Knope, a city councilwoman for the fictional small town of Pawnee, Indiana, has a surprise meeting with the vice president in Washington D.C.
Knope has long described her ideal man as having the “brains of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden.”
“Meeting Vice President Biden was a thrill for me and for Leslie,” Poehler said in a statement.
“He was a good sport and a great improviser. The vice president maintained his composure while I harassed him and invaded his personal space. The nation of ‘Parks and Rec’ will be forever grateful,” she added.
The scenes with Biden were shot in July in the chambers of the vice president’s ceremonial office, during the TV show’s recent trip to the nation’s capital to film scenes for this season’s storylines.
The biggest challenge of landing Biden’s cameo was keeping it a secret before Tuesday’s U.S. elections. Airing the episode prior to November 6 could have been equivalent to a campaign contribution to advertise a candidate, executive producer Michael Schur told Entertainment Weekly.
“Parks and Recreation” follows the Pawnee Parks department and its tireless deputy Knope, who puts all her efforts into improving her little hometown.
This is a big season for Poehler’s character, who is finally elected into city government, gets engaged to campaign advisor Ben Wyatt and meets her political heroes including Senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snow and John McCain, who were featured in September’s season premiere.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)
