NC's connection to Poehler's 'Parks & Recreation'

That familiar face you see each Thursday night on NBC's new sitcom Parks & Recreation has a North Carolina connection.

Paul Schneider, who plays city planner Mark Brendanawicz, grew up in Asheville and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Schneider attended Asheville High School and Carolina Day School before going to UNCSA in Winston-Salem.

You've probably also seen Schneider in the films “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” "Lars and the Real Girl," "The Family Stone," and "Elizabethtown."

Schneider's next movie is the new Sam Mendes film, "Away We Go," starring John Krasinski (The Office), Maya Rudolph, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney and Jeff Daniels. The film is scheduled for release in June.

Schneider was named one of the "10 Actors to Watch" by Variety in 2007. Schneider told Variety of his life here: "Growing up in North Carolina, I was around a bunch of guys who did a lot of drinking and fighting. I did my share of that, but I was always the sensitive guy. When I
wanted to talk about my feelings, they'd tell me to have another drink."

Parks & Recreation, starring Amy Poehler, airs on Thursday nights at 8:30pm on NBC.