The US Office is one of the most beloved comedy TV series of all time, with many quotable lines and iconic scenes – some of which filled its actors with anxiety. Ed Helms, who played the ambitious salesman suffering from anger issues Andy Bernard, revealed a particular scene in season 3 that he found daunting to film.
In season 3 of the US Office, the episode ‘The Return,’ has one of the most iconic moments in the entire American sitcom. We see Andy become the new target for Jim Halpert’s (John Krasinski) pranks during the episode. However, unlike Jim’s normal target Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) Andy just can’t quite take the joke. When Jim decides to hide Andy’s work phone in the ceiling, it leads Andy – who cannot pinpoint where his ringtone is coming from – to punch a hole in the office wall, shocking all his Dunder Mifflin co-workers.
In an interview on the Office Ladies podcast, Helms revealed that the punch in the episode was the first time he had done a stunt. He then went on to explain how, although he was excited to do it, he “really didn’t want to screw up the punch.”
“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,” the star explained. “There were a lot of kind of wind-ups to practise, practise swings. 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.”
Considering how Helms was a new cast member in season 3, it is understandable why the star would be nervous about getting a stunt right on the production. Luckily he didn’t scrap up his knuckles too badly, as his efforts gave us one of the best moments in the entire nine seasons for the US Office.