Ed Helms was a familiar face on ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Office’ when he landed a role in ‘The Hangover’ alongside Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. The 2009 comedy blockbuster kicked off his trilogy, spawning a “tornado of fame,” as Helms said in a recent episode of the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” and he’s a was plagued by career insecurities.
“It was a tornado of fame and a lot of Buffett,” Helms said of his career after “The Hangover” became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time. “
Helms explained that ‘The Hangover’ fame was ‘a whole new level’ compared to ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Office’, and said, ‘It really upsets me a lot of the time, like the aftermath of ‘The Hangover’. I was letting ‘…I was getting scripts for all these different kinds of projects. “Like, what do I do? .”
While Helms felt “very lucky” to have more opportunities, he “definitely felt a lot of anxiety and a sense of identity — it’s just confusion.”
“I will say one of the craziest things about that kind of breakthrough to fame. It’s a big loss, and you control your environment.”
Helms appeared in all three The Hangover movies and relied on Cooper and Galifianakis to keep him sane. “I don’t think I would have kept my sanity if it wasn’t for those people,” said the actor. I was doing things… and not too professional.”
Helms recently starred in the short-lived Peacock series ‘Rutherford Falls’ and has appeared in movies like ‘Together’ and ‘Lon’s Gone Long’.