Parks and Rec: The Real-Life Reporter Who Inspired Perd Hapley's Iconic Voice

Ever wonder where Perd Hapley's uniquely stilted delivery on Parks and Recreation came from? In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Jay Jackson, the man behind Pawnee's favorite newsman, revealed the character was based on a real, and quite legendary, local journalist.

Crafting the Character

Jackson, who worked as a broadcast journalist for over 20 years before his acting career, explained that Perd's voice is a mix of his own serious "reporter voice" and a specific local news anchor. He credits Alex Hardcastle, the director of his first episode, for pushing him to develop the character's quirky side. "[Hardcastle] would say, 'Okay, go over the top with it,'" Jackson told EW.

As he started to exaggerate his performance, Jackson began to channel a reporter he remembered from Los Angeles. "I would kind of channel what he was doing, and it ended up, 'I'm Perd Hapley, and welcome to Ya Heard? With Perd!'"

The Real Perd: Furnell Chatman

The inspiration was NBC Los Angeles reporter Furnell Chatman. "He had this very strange way of doing the news," Jackson recalled. "Seriously, if you hear him, you'll say, 'Ah, that's Perd.'"

Chatman, now 78, was a pioneering force in broadcast news for over four decades. He made history in 1972 as Louisiana's first Black broadcast journalist. His storied career included conducting the first on-camera interviews with Rodney King after the LAPD brutality case and with O.J. Simpson after his acquittal. He retired in 2009.

From Real News to Reel News

Before becoming Hollywood's go-to fictional reporter in shows like Scandal and The Mentalist, Jackson was a real one. He worked at KCAL9 News in L.A. on what he calls the "death and destruction beat," covering murders, arson, and DUI crashes. Now, fans are more likely to shout Perd Hapley's one-liners at him than ask for a news update.