They may say never meet your heroes, but sometimes it just might work out, as it did for Nick Offerman.

Offerman, who voices Ken in the new Smurfs movie, appeared on Thursday’s Live with Kelly and Mark, where he told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos about playing the brother of Papa Smurf, who is voiced by John Goodman.

When asked if he writes the backstories for his animated characters, he explained that he “collaborated on this one.”

“A lot of it came from the wonderful creators of this movie,” he continued. “And how thrilling — I mean, John Goodman, who plays Papa Smurf, has been my hero for 40 years.”

Ripa agreed, “All of our heroes.”

Offerman added, “I just always aspired to someday get to do something half as good as John Goodman, and suddenly I’m playing his brother.”

The Parks & Recreation alum teased that he “worked out quite a bit to try and feel masculine enough to stand next to” Goodman, though they did not actually record together in person.

“We were solo because he was in London, I was in Budapest,” he shared. “And so you’re recording in a booth with the director on a Zoom.”

Offerman noted that he did an episode of The Conners last year, “partly just to get to meet [Goodman] and Laurie Metcalf.” But the connections don’t stop there. Offerman’s wife, Will & Grace star Megan Mullally, played Goodman’s love interest on the fourth and final season of The Righteous Gemstones.

“So I visited them a lot, watched him put his hands all over my wife,” he quipped. “Then I had to really rely on my classical training to go back and have brotherly love toward him, and forget my jealous rage.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings. Smurfs hits theaters on Friday, July 18.