"It was my first time doing anything that qualified as a stunt"- When Ed Helms opened up about his most difficult scene in The Office

By now, Ed Helms has cemented his place among the best comedy actors of this generation, with a body of work that will remain memorable for the years to come. Helms was a key part of the hit NBC sitcom The Office. He was also a part of the famous trio in the Hangover franchise, which has aged like fine wine, and this is hardly the tip of the iceberg for the actor's immense filmography.

Yet, his time as Andy Bernard in The Office is perhaps the one that will be best remembered. A lot of credit for this also goes to Ed Helms, who had worked really hard to make the awkward character come to life, especially in the latter seasons of The Office, where he was meant to lead things.

But the hardest part for the actor came in season 3 in a scene that many remember very well. Jim's (played by John Krasinski) prank on Andy ended up with the latter punching a hole through the wall, in what was one of the hardest scenes for Ed Helms.

He discussed this scene in detail in an interview with Office Ladies (via Showbiz CheatSheet), where he told former co-star Angela Kinsey about how he found this scene especially "daunting." He elaborated on this, saying:

"I remember it was my first time doing anything that qualified as a stunt […] There was a whole little meeting about how they were going to score the back of the sheetrock so that my hand went through easier."

He continued:

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"And then they were gonna put up … they fixed a pad onto the inner wall so that when my hand went through, I wouldn’t hit wood or aluminium or anything. Also, they had multiple planks that they could stick up just so we could do multiple takes."

He discussed this scene in further detail in the same interview.

"That was pretty intense"- Ed Helms on punching a hole through the wall in The Office season 3

Ed Helms' character was quite hilarious from the start. But things really escalated for Andy Bernard following this one episode when Jim hid his phone. After this episode, he was sent to anger management training, and the Andy that returned became a lot funnier, perhaps one of the funniest characters in the show.

This scene, however, was quite challenging, as Ed Helms discussed. He further elaborated on this in the same interview, adding:

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"That was one of those scenes for me, in a very early one, and something that I think was very exciting but also kind of daunting. And I really didn’t want to screw up the punch […] I didn’t want to get it wrong … there were a lot of kind of wind-ups to practise, practise swings."

This wasn't only a hard part to act, but it also physically hurt the actor. He added:

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"I think we did two, two takes or so and I skinned up my knuckles. There was a pad in there, but I think breaking through the sheetrock skinned up my knuckles. So, yeah, that was pretty intense."

This surely was a defining moment for the actor, and he went on to star in six more seasons of The Office, eventually becoming the boss of the office.

Over the years that followed The Office, Ed Helms has been a part of many shows and movies, often earning critical acclaim for his roles. Some of his works include Corporate Animals, Family Switch, Vacation, Someone Marry Barry, Rutherford Falls, and Big Mouth, among others.

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