MANILA, Philippines—Blessed with a frat boy falsetto, Ed Helms is singing his way into the hearts of the TV viewing public via “The Office.” While “The Daily Show” alum exploits his talent for laughs on the popular series as recovering angry man Andy Bernard, Helms is all business when it comes to letting the people hear him sing.
“Music has always been a huge part of my life,” says Helms. “I’ve been playing guitar and banjo fairly obsessively for the last 20 years. I sang through high school and the occasional musical here and there. But in college, I was always in a couple of bluegrass bands. When I moved to New York City, two of my very close friends from school moved there and we kept playing as a trio and that exists until this day.”
Before Helms moved to Los Angeles, Lonesome Trio—which features Helms on guitar, Ian Riggs on bass, and Jacob Tilove on mandolin—frequented New York haunts.
“We just had a gig a week and half ago. We dabble around here and there. It’s an amateurish pursuit, but it’s incredibly fun. And to be able to make music with two of my best friends is incredible. I am so grateful for that,” says Helms.
It was his frequent singing and humming that Helms believes might have separated him from the crowd in his early days on “The Daily Show.”
“It was this running joke with all the segment producers. The editor would be like, ‘Oh, Jesus. Helms is singing again.’ They stopped putting them into the segments for a while. But sometimes it was just too good a moment to pass up. I loved belting out big, stupid musical numbers at the drop of a hat,” Helms shares.
Beyond his self-professed love of Broadway musicals (as witnessed on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”), the Oberlin College grad boasts an extensive and eclectic taste in music. “It’s a pretty wide swatch. It goes from Metallica to Yanni and everything in between,” he says. “I am always either listening to music or playing music in my head in some form or another, or singing to the frustrations of all the people around me.”
Cathartic
Case in point, his character’s self-recorded, one-man, four-part, a cappella-style “Rockin’ Robin” ring tone in one of the episodes of “The Office.” Helms believes it is scenes like his which makes millions of viewers watch the show every week.
“I think that it resonates with people because whether or not you work in that type of office, we constantly confront awkward situations,” Helms says. “It’s fun to watch someone else go through it for a change. For me, it’s cathartic to see that we all act like jackasses sometimes. Here’s a show that celebrates that.”
And everyone is celebrating along with “The Office” staff except for alumni from Cornell. Helms says that his fictional alma mater hasn’t even sent him a sweatshirt yet in honor of his weekly pledges to the Ivy League school.
“That’s really funny. They haven’t sent me anything,” Helms laughs. “To be honest, I don’t know if the Cornell students are all that happy of my portrayal of a Cornell alumnus. We’ll see, maybe I’ll get an honorary degree in douchebaggery.”
To soothe some of the uneasiness, Helms says, fans of “The Office” can expect a kinder, gentler Andy in the newest season. The anger, according to Helms, has washed away and, in return, love has come flooding in.
“It’s been a really fun discovery process for both me and, I think, the people who do the writing in terms of who Andy is,” Helms explains. “Initially, Andy’s scenes were very short. So it gave everyone a chance to test the waters and see what felt right. For me, it was clear early on that the show was receptive for improvisation. So that gave me a chance to influence how Andy developed—to add a little Ed Helms jelly to the sandwich.”
With a supporting part in his cubicle co-star Steve Carell’s “Evan Almighty” last year and a leading role in “Meet Dave” (with Eddie Murphy), the 33-year-old Helms is quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s hilarity-ensuing heavyweights.
“It’s funny. I’m kind of working around the clock. No eating, no sleeping, no socializing. All I do is mainline Red Bull and it seems to keep me going,” says Helms. “It’s absolutely mind-blowing, but in the best way. And it’s incredibly exciting. I am very ambitious, sometimes to the detriment of my own sanity.”
Speaking of fun and rewarding experiences, Helms is creating some of his own (with a Dunder Mifflin twist) during his downtime on the set. “Recently, I started making ‘Star Wars’ space crafts out of office supplies. I have a nice little menagerie started. I have an X-wing fighter and a Y-Wing fighter,” Helms reveals.
“The X-wing is made out of binder clips and paper clips. It’s pretty detailed. I painted it with White Out. I’m constantly bugging the props department for arts and crafts supplies. If you look carefully in certain episodes, you might see them on my desk.”
“Suddenly, I feel like I’m not fit for an interview for your cool section,” admits Helms.
“I feel like between the banjo and the ‘Star Wars’ arts and crafts, I may be the biggest geek ever interviewed for this newspaper. And I wear it with pride. I will kick the ass of any jock who comes my way.”
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