Ed Helms reveals The Hangover fame left him with ‘overwhelming’ anxiety: ‘I really was reeling a lot of the time’
‘It was a tornado of fame and a lot of buffeting,’ Helms said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ed Helms had already broken into Hollywood thanks to roles on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Office (US version) before he starred in the 2009 comedy, The Hangover.
However, his role as Stuart Price in the movie directed by Todd Phillips (Joker) catapulted him to a new level of fame.
In a recent episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Helms spoke about the “overwhelming” anxiety he faced after the film became a smash hit.
“It was a tornado of fame and a lot of buffeting,” Helms said of his career post-Hangover. “It was very overwhelming.”
He continued: “I really was reeling a lot of the time, like in the aftermath of The Hangover… I was getting scripts for all these different kinds of projects. ‘Like what do I do? I dunno.’ I was kind of spinning out and panicking about different things. Like, ‘Well, what kind of a career do you want?’”
Helms added that he “definitely felt a lot of anxiety and like identity kind of – just turmoil”.
Luckily, Helms’s co-stars, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis, were going through the same jump in status at the same time.
“If it wasn’t for those guys, I don’t think I would’ve stayed sane,” he said. “But we all had each other to kind of commiserate and measure ourselves... and I think we kept each other [from] drifting too far, and being too unprofessional.”
He concluded: “One of the craziest things about a massive jump into fame like that – and what I think people who have never dealt with that or been close to it just can’t understand – is the just total loss of control of your environment.”
Helms starred as the apprehensive dentist Stuart for two subsequent Hangover movies released in 2011 and 2013, neither of which was as well critically received as the original.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments