Nick Offerman finds his new calling: "Turns out, I'm a walking sedative."
Nick Offerman: "I think I’ve found my new calling – as a Sleep Story narrator.”
Nick Offerman narrates "The Big Bad Wolf Learns Anger Management", a modern retelling of the classic tale of "The Three Little Pigs" – that debuts as Calm’s latest new Sleep Story.
It’s also the final instalment in Calm's new three-part series of "Fairy Tales De-Stressed", offering – in the form of Sleep Stories – soothing new takes on scary old tales.
Its two companion tales are: "Rumpelstiltskin Learns to Meditate", narrated by Game of Thrones star, Jerome Flynn; and "The Wicked Witch (of the West) Discovers Mindfulness", narrated by Keegan Connor Tracy, the actor, author and co-star of shows including "Once Upon a Time."
"I think I’ve found my new calling – as a Sleep Story narrator," says Offerman, the actor, writer, comedian and carpenter, best-known for his role as Ron Swanson in the sitcom, "Parks and Recreation."
"Directors are always telling me to pick up the pace and goose the energy. So, it was fun for once to be asked to lean into my natural, deeply mellow timbre. Turns out, I’m a walking sedative."
Offerman also loved the new tale itself: "We all know the story of the Big Bad Wolf. But in this new version, you hear what happens next – when he goes on a journey and becomes ... a different, better kind of wolf.
He becomes, in short, a reformed wolf. "Having blown down the houses of the three little pigs, he has a change of heart and decides to help rebuild them”, says Offerman. “It even has a part about woodworking, which was right up my out-feed table."
The latest instalment in Calm’s new three-part series of “Fairy-Tales De-Stressed.”
Indeed, it turns out that the wolf is good with his ... paws. Nothing makes him happier than cutting curves with his trusty saw and finishing table-tops with his orbital sander. He is, in other words, Offerman's kind of wolf.
The shared theme of the three new tales, however, is the power of meditation, mindfulness and other mind tools, like anger management, to transform lives.
“Many characters in fairy tales are under clear stress – or else causing it to others," says Michael Acton Smith, co-founder of Calm. "They badly need to meditate or find other ways to change and cope. And so we wondered what would happen if they did.”
The Big Bad Wolf, in his case, becomes a walking advertisement for the power of anger management ... and controlled breathing.
With a little help – and some tough love – from the three little pigs, he discovers a new side to himself; one that he’s kept hidden for too long but now wants to show the world.
He wants to give back. Having previously so ill-treated the three little pigs, he wants to make good.
He feels not just deep remorse for having blown down the houses of the little pigs but also deep gratitude to them for teaching him how to understand and quell his anger.
He becomes, in short, a cooler, calmer and altogether happier wolf.
“The three little pigs suggest that he starts calling himself the Big Good Wolf", says Offerman. "But he prefers the Big Calm Wolf. And they’re down with that."
