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Perhaps Jackson's greatest acting achievement is his infamous portrayal of the overly literal newscaster Perd Hapley on Parks and Recreation — who says things like "Let's begin the show by starting it" and "The statement that this reporter has is a question."

"He's not dumb, he's different," Jackson says. "Perd speaks in a way that is his own world, it makes sense to him — but it's like, the kind of sense that, well, you could've done that a different way. And it's all the time."

Despite Perd's popularity, Jackson says he's still a struggling actor.

"I'm not, like, some rich guy — I'm still broke," he says. "But it's cool, though. I like it. I enjoy it because my training is from Parks and Recreation and the actors on that set."

He insists that he's not a naturally funny guy. Jackson credits all of his comedic success to the show's writers and lead star.

"I will say to Amy Poehler one day, 'It's because of you, you didn't know it, but you would teach me all of these ways of how to respond and how to act on set and how to be an actor,' " Jackson says. "One day when I'm accepting my Oscar, I do want to say, 'I want to thank Amy Poehler for all of that.' I'm planning it out, I have it all written out, I want to see her smiling and the whole nine yards."

We want to hear about your big break. Send us an e-mail at mybigbreak@npr.org.