You might be surprised to learn that Nick Offerman—who plays iconic manly-man Ron Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation—has a giggle that can only be described as girlish. It is at once disconcerting (this is a guy who wields a chainsaw like it’s a third arm) and endearing. I got a load of the giggle over breakfast in New York. Not long after allowing his pubic hair to be shaved into the shape of a eagle for GQ’s July issue, he and the cast of Parks had come east to receive a Peabody Award. Offerman was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt, jeans, and the bushy beard he favors when his show is on hiatus. Despite a hangover, he was unfailingly polite; the waitress got a please and thank you every time she dropped by. He is also the poster boy for how to treat a woman. Take note, guys: This a man who never misses an opportunity to wax rhapsodic about his wife of twelve years, actress Megan Mullally (who plays Ron Swanson’s sex-crazed librarian ex, Tammy Two). Indeed, Offerman has an admirable affection for old school good manners and a clear code of behavior—rules that, we have come to believe, every man should live by.

GQ: What were you up to last night?

** Nick Offerman:** A contingent of us—[Parks creator] Mike Schur, Amy [Poehler], Adam Scott and myself went to the season finale of Saturday Night Live. It was really something. I’ve never seen Mick Jagger perform. The Foo Fighters played live karaoke at the after-party. I am always so happy to be at SNL. I still feel like a kid when I’m there, like I can’t believe I’m watching them make the show. I had known Amy back in Chicago in our early twenties, and so eventually when I started going to SNL, it was as if my childhood friend was getting me into the White House. Steve Martin was there last night, and we’ve met, and I stood next to him for a while.

GQ: You stood next to him? You say that like you didn’t talk to him.

** Nick Offerman:** I’ve learned through experience that to trouble celebrities with my handshake doesn’t do anybody any good. I thought, If Martin doesn’t talk to me, I’m not going to add to his evening of, Hello, nice to meet you. So I did not say anything.

GQ: I have to interrupt for a moment: One thing I’ve come to appreciate about you is that you don’t often use contractions.

** Nick Offerman:** Oh. That’s a compliment I don’t hear very much. Or, I should say, that’s a compliment I do not hear very often. [giggles]

GQ: I’m happy to see that Parks was renewed, which wasn’t a certainty.

** Nick Offerman:** It was a strange time for us. The Thursday and Friday before the upfronts [the May event where the networks reveal their fall shows to advertisers], we still weren’t hearing if the show had been picked up, and we were nervous. Then suddenly there were rumors, and for the first time NBC didn’t invite the cast to the upfronts. We were, like, what’s going on!

GQ: And then that whole thing with NBC firing Community creator Dan Harmon.

** Nick Offerman:** It was crazy, but not surprising. Dan has been notoriously difficult with NBC. And then he had that really public Chevy Chase feud. I think Dan is brilliant, but we all kind of hung our heads and thought, That’s no way for a boss to behave.