Nick Offerman Breaks Down His 3 Fake Proposal to Wife Megan Mullally

Nick Offerman popped the question to his now-wife Megan Mullally quite a few times before they actually got engaged.

During an appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark to promote his new film, Smurfs, on Thursday, July 17, the Parks and Recreation alum, 55, opened up one of his and Mullally’s favorite jokes from their early days of dating that involved a series of fake proposals.

“Megan and I were one day walking to an art opening, and I was pulling something out of my pocket, and I dropped a quarter accidentally and I just went to grab it,” the actor recalled. “And Megan, as a joke, went, ‘Honey!’ ”

“We had been together about a year, and so we cracked each other up,” he continued. “So I played along and pretended that I had just lost the ring I was going to propose to her with. So that established this bit between us.”

According to Offerman, the joke continued into the couple’s first romantic trip together in Paris. The actor said that although he thought it might be a good opportunity to propose for real, he “couldn’t afford a ring.”

Instead, he opted to work with costume designer on Mullally’s hit show Will & Grace’ — as the NBC sitcom was the reason for the couple’s trip out to Europe in the first place — to get a few prop engagement rings and pretend to pop the question to Mullally multiple times around the city.

According to Offerman, he tried the prank — which involved him dropping the fake rings into a sewer grate, into the Seine, and off the top of the Eiffel Tower — at least three times, and his now-wife thought it was hilarious.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“If you’re gonna try this at home, always make sure there are no pedestrians,” he joked, teasing that he wouldn’t want his fake ring to hit someone on the way down from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

“If there was any chance that she wouldn’t think it was funny I never would have done it, but then about a year later, I actually did propose,” the actor added, recalling their real proposal in England back in 2002.

Offerman said that Mullally, 66, never questioned if the actual proposal was real, simply because he was “clearly terrified” and his wife asked: “What is the matter with you?”

“I was chewing on my mustache,” he joked.

Offerman and Mullally met in 2000, when they starred in the play The Berlin Circle. Mullally told New York magazine in 2010 that they weren’t romantic until after previews, but once they started dating — spotting coyotes and a Glen Campbell concert at the Hollywood Bowl were part of their courtship — “it got serious and we were never apart from then on.”

The couple got engaged in London, in 2002, and married in a surprise wedding at their Los Angeles home in September 2003, on the night before the Emmys.

Their careers have crossed paths several times over the years, most notably on Parks and Recreation and Will & Grace.

The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!