‘The Office’: Ed Helms Was ‘So Insanely Sore’ After He Shot This Episode
When Ed Helms first set foot on the set of The Office, he didn’t dare think he would find a permanent place in the cast. Though The Hangover star was a huge fan of The Office, his initial contract (much like Rashida Jones’) was only for eight episodes. A transfer from Dunder Mifflin Stamford, Helms’ character, Andy Bernard, eventually became the show’s most enjoyable addition.
Andy, while polarizing at times, certainly has a ton of character arcs. Sometimes he’s the annoying brown noser desperate to suck up to his superiors, while other times he’s the capable manager, ready to solve problems between his employees. Furthermore, Helms got to explore lots of physical comedy during his time on The Office as well. A few memorable stunts included punching a wall and injuring his scrotum.
Ed Helms did a lot of physical comedy during ‘The Office’
Naturally, there were times when Helms felt the effects of his physical comedy and his body would be sore from filming episodes of The Office. Funnily enough, the aforementioned stunts didn’t make the actors as sore as an activity that he had to do in the seventh season of the show. in an episode called “Ultimatum.”
Fans of The Office may recall that “Ultimatum” is the episode where the employees of Dunder Mifflin Scranton return to The Office after the Winter Holidays. Of course, the main plot-point is about whether or not Michael’s love interest, Holly Flax, is engaged to her boyfriend, A.J., following her ultimatum. But a large chunk of the episode also centers around New Years Resolutions. Inspired by another office manager, Pam encourages her coworkers to set resolutions for themselves and post them on display.
The cast member was extremely sore after the ‘Ultimatum’ episode in Season 7
Darryl reveals that his resolution is to read more. In order to accomplish this, he convinces Andy and Dwight to give him a ride to the bookstore under the pretense of meeting women. When Andy and Dwight naturally strikeout, Dwight requests to visit a strip club as his resolution is to “met a loose woman.” Dwight and Andy refuse to go to the strip club but compromise by making a stop to the roller rink before returning to the office.
While at the rink, Dwight, Andy, and Darryl all do a few laps around the rink, but Andy is the one who does the most skating. At one point, Dwight skates across the street to the aforementioned strip club, while Darryl finds a spot to read, leaving Andie completely alone on the rink. While Helms looks very competent in his skates, filming this episode of The Office actually left the actor feeling incredibly sore.
Helms gets candid about skating on ‘The Office’
“We shot at this roller rink out in The Valley and I was so insanely sore the next day,” Helms shared in an interview with Screen Junkies. “You’re right, it’s one of those things you don’t do in 20 years and it hurts.” We can only imagine that skating after a 20-year hiatus could be hard on the muscles. But, The Office alum still made it look easy.
