Whether Andy going off to anger management training or sailing off to the Bahamas, Ed Helms’ absence from The Office has been quite noticeable. Well, guess what? The actor was actually struggling with scheduling conflicts between the NBC sitcom and his hit blockbuster movie The Hangover.
To be fair, it wasn’t just Ed Helms who was balancing between The Office and Hollywood projects, even Steve Carell was having scheduling conflicts due to film offers. But, while the actors on the show were more lenient towards Carell and his timing issues, Helms’ absence sparked a cold war on set. He soon realized that he was nowhere near the beloved Michael Scott actor.
Ed Helms’ role as Andy in The Office launched him in Hollywood
No matter how big Ed Helms makes in life, he will forever be known as the quirky and often unpredictable salesman/regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, Andy Bernard. Because it’s his role in The Office as a Cornell graduate, and his undeniable love for Acapella, that launched him to Hollywood stardom—that’s where it all began.
But while The Office became a launching pad for Ed Helms that later earned him a role in Bradley Cooper’s 2009 blockbuster The Hangover, the actor struggled miserably in managing his schedule. Producer Randy Cordray recalled in The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, how a majority of Helms’ scheduling issues originated as his co-stars refused to adjust (via CheatSheet).
It caused an enormous amount of scheduling difficulties. Whatever scenes Andy played with other actors, you had to cross-check the calendar to see if there were conflicts.
It made the show infinitely more complex and difficult to schedule and I can’t say it did not affect other people’s schedules.
Considering how they had been adjusting their schedules for Steve Carell, who played the beloved Michael Scott in The Office, the co-stars weren’t willing to do the same, once again for Ed Helms. So, the actor quickly realized that he didn’t have the same level of freedom and reputation as Carell.
Ed Helms’ scheduling issues for The Hangover created chaos on set
So, while The Hangover came to Ed Helms as a breakthrough opportunity in Hollywood, it also created a major problem on set. Considering how he was still a key part of The Office, balancing both projects became tricky, especially since his co-stars weren’t willing to adjust for him as they did for Steve Carell.
Well, there’s no question as to why The Office actors were willing to change their schedules for Steve Carell—after all, the actor had been with the show from the start, and was the central figure in the storyline. Meanwhile, Ed Helms, became a part of the mockumentary show in its third season, making him have less tenure.
Randy Cordray shared,
If there were conflicts people would say, ‘Hey why can’t I have that day off? I need to do this project.’ I’d have to say, ‘I’m very sorry. That’s a day that we only have Ed Helms. And you perform with Ed Helms in this scene…’
They’d go, ‘But Ed Helms is number thirteen on the call sheet, and I am higher than him.’ I want to tell you I didn’t have a lot of these arguments, but occasionally I did, and it presented scheduling difficulties.
Eventually, his absences were written into the storyline—Andy Bernard was sent to anger management, and later, he disappeared on a boat trip to the Bahamas. While The Office found ways to work around his schedule, it wasn’t without some chaos caused by his co-stars, who felt like Helms’ Hollywood success was disrupting the show.
The Office is currently available to watch on Peacock.
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