It just goes to show how one movie can change your life. Just a few months ago Ed Helms was a jobbing TV actor best known as one of the correspondents on The Daily Show and for playing Andy in the US version of The Office, but the success of The Hangover means he’s suddenly skyrocketed to the top of the comedy film actor tree.
Last months he signed on to Miguel Arteta’s Cedar Rapids, to be produced by Alexander Payne. Now it’s been announced that Universal has bought the spec script Central Intelligence for him to star in. The script, by Ike Barinholtz and Dave Stassen, is about an accountant who’s thrown into the world of international espionage after reconnecting with an old friend through Facebook.
It seems Helms likes his blue-collar characters, as in Cedar Rapids he’ll be a sad-sack insurance agent who goes to an industry convention to try to save the jobs of his colleagues, while The Office sees him as a paper salesman.
He’s also slated to reprise his dentist character from The Hangover in a sequel to the hit movie, which is due to be filmed at the end of next year.