King of comedy: 'Office' star Ed Helms has just wrapped up 'Cedar Rapids' & 'Hangover' sequel

JUST A FEW years ago, Ed Helms was third alien from the right in "Meet Dave."

Now, though he sheepishly denies it, he's pretty close to the center of the comedy universe - lead in the new comedy "Cedar Rapids," ensemble player in the highly rated TV series "The Office," and recently returned from Thailand, where he's just wrapped the sequel to his life-changing smash hit "The Hangover."

On the phone, he seems very much like the modest fellow we know from "The Hangover" - he claims, for instance, that he has no idea why the guy who wrote "Cedar Rapids" offered the script to him.

"For some reason he had the idea for this movie and thought I would be a good fit," said Helms.

For some reason?

Miguel Arteta, who directed Helms in "Cedar Rapids," fills in the blanks.

"Ed's a real actor. I directed him a couple years ago in 'The Office,' and I was struck by what a thoughtful guy he was. And I think that if you look at 'The Hangover' it's pretty impressive what he was able to get out of that character arc. He's the most grounded thing in the movie," Arteta said.

"He has what all good actors have - I call it 'The Little Frown.' It's that look on their face that tells you they're thinking, putting things together for the first time. Ed has that. It's where his comedy comes from. It doesn't come from meanness or sarcasm."

Helms said that if he has a failing as an actor, it's that he's TOO thoughtful.

He's a stickler for realism in his comedy, and he fought tooth and nail while making "Cedar Rapids" to excise the "unrealistic" joke that gets the movie's biggest laugh.

It's delivered by Isiah Whitlock Jr., who joins Helms, John C. Reilly and Anne Heche as small-market insurance executives at a "big city" convention in Cedar Rapids.

Whitlock makes a reference to the HBO series "The Wire," in which Whitlock memorably starred as a ruthless and corrupt politician.

"I'm very analytical about comedy. I think many would say overly analytical. But I think, especially in this movie, comedy needs to be rooted in authenticity," he explained.

"The 'Wire' joke was in the script from day one, way before Isiah was involved. And when he came on board, me, with my comedy Nazi mentality, said, 'OK, of course we're going to have to lose the "Wire" joke. It will take people out of the movie.'

"I got a lot of pushback on that, and I eventually capitulated, because I figured when we test it, everyone will see that I'm right, and the audience will groan."

Audiences did not groan.

"No, it actually got a round of applause. A couple rounds of applause. Not only was I not vindicated, I was dutifully humiliated. Thank God."

Helms' keep-it-real instincts, though, are generally on target. On "Cedar Rapids" they were usually seconded by producer and proud Nebraskan Alexander Payne ("Election," "About Schmidt"), who combed the script looking for false notes.

"He was adamant that we can't make this an exploitation of the Midwest, or of the characters. We can never look down our noses at anything."

Helms has the lead in "Cedar Rapids," and is rumored to be at the center of the action in "Hangover 2," which follows the characters to a wedding in Thailand (what could go wrong in Thailand?).

It's purportedly Helms' nuptials, but he's sworn to secrecy.

Part of it is contractual; part of it is Helms' desire not to break the spell that made the first movie so astonishingly successful.

"Everyone involved was just stunned to see it do what it did. That has nothing to do with our faith in the product, but none of us was a movie star, and nobody was projecting it to be the comedy of the year."

His co-stars Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis have become sought-after properties, and so has Helms, and while sometimes that can distort egos and work ethics, Helms said that didn't occur with "Hangover 2."

"We all went through this incredible experience with the release and the insanity that ensued. Really, we were the only people who could understand what each other were going through. So now we have this crazy bond, and so it's really easy for us to give each other a hard time. Nobody gives an inch on the set. We still see each other as these idiots we work with."

Helms is similarly mum on the future of "The Office," soon to lose star Steve Carell.

"Steve is a big loss, but it's also an incredible opportunity, and the writers have really seized on it. The idea of who gets to takeover as the boss is full of possibilities, and I can tell you that the series is doing to take full advantage of that."