‘The Hangover Part II’ Star Ed Helms Explains Why He ‘Should Get an Oscar’ for the Movie
It’s been over 10 years since Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, and Ed Helms joined forces for the wildly beloved comedy, The Hangover. Following its release, the movie quickly became a pop culture phenomenon thanks to its endlessly quotable one-liners and slapstick humor. Its success led to multiple sequels. But as it turns out, the path to production on The Hangover Part II wasn’t exactly a smooth ride for one of its stars.
‘The Hangover’ franchise: Original cast, sequels, and audience reception
Directed by Todd Phillips, The Hangover landed in theaters in 2009. It stars Cooper as Phil, Galifianakis as Alan, Bartha as Doug, and Helms as Stu. The movie follows the eccentric group of friends as they travel to Las Vegas for Doug’s bachelor party. But things quickly go sour when they wake up after a night of partying to find that Doug is missing.
Along the way, Stu, Alan, and Phil slowly uncover the foggy memories of their wild night in an attempt to find Doug and get him back home in time for his wedding. The movie features some hilarious appearances from Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson.
The Hangover Part II picks up two years after Doug’s disastrous bachelor party in Vegas. It follows the events of Stu’s wedding, which is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand. Similar to the first film, things quickly spiral out of control despite Stu’s efforts not to replicate the same mayhem as Doug’s party.
The first installment in The Hangover trilogy earned a 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. However, its follow-up films, The Hangover Part II and The Hangover Part III, were not as well-received. They earned just 34 percent and 20 percent ratings, respectively.
Ed Helms got food poisoning while filming ‘The Hangover Part II’
While reminiscing on The Hangover Part II, Helms revealed he’d actually been violently ill while filming the movie in Thailand.
“I ate something that made my body so angry that I exploded,” Helms quipped during a 2011 episode of The Graham Norton Show. “A bomb went off in my stomach, and it had two outlets.”
Helms went on to explain that at the time, he thought he’d contracted a “crazy tropical disease” and felt like he was “dying.” However, he said the strange illness actually helped him to get into character.
“I went to some really dark, dark places,” Helms said, joking that he would only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in between takes while he was sick. “It definitely informed Stu’s character for the rest of the movie.”
The Office actor claimed his mystery illness was actually just a nasty case of food poisoning, which he traced back to a noodle dish he and Cooper ate at a restaurant. Cooper, however, denied that it was the noodles that made Helms sick but rather the condiments.
“I must say the part I’m most proud of is acting not sick,” Helms said of the experience. “I should get an Oscar for just looking normal.”
Ed Helms’ awards and nominations
Ed Helms is an established actor, writer, and comedian. And he has earned several awards and nominations for his work.
Most notably, Helms and the cast of The Office won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2008, per IMDb. The Office ensemble would go on to earn nominations in the same category from 2009 to 2013.
Helms then won the Writers Guild of America Award for the comedy special The Fake News with Ted Nelms in 2019. More recently, he landed a nomination for Best Actor in a Streaming Series at the 2021 Hollywood Critics Association Television Awards for his role in the comedy series Rutherford Falls.
