Viewpoint: Ed Helms being typecast isn't necessarily bad

Independent comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home pulled in $840,000 this weekend, which is neither spectacular nor terrible for a low-budget film. But if you’re one of the hundreds of college students who saw the film, you probably went for the same reason I did: Ed Helms.

The Hangover, where Helms played Stu Price, is one of most college students’ favorite films, and the student demographic pulls a significant part of The Office’s viewership, where Helm plays Andy Bernard. In dormitories, at least, Ed Helms is a household name.

Of course, Helms isn’t the title character in Jeff, Who Lives at Home -- Jason Segel fills that role. But as USA TODAY’s Scott Bowles notes, much of the film centers on Helms's and Susan Sarandon’s characters, not Segel’s.

Sure, college kids recognize Segel from The Muppets and I Love You, Man. But How I Met Your Mother target demographic is older than the average college student. If students chose to see Jeff, Who Lives at Home based on casting and not on the plot or the appeal of an independent film, Helms was a bigger draw than Segel.

Why do college students love Ed Helms? He’s typecast. . .in a good way.

Though he was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2002 to 2006, most current students became familiar with Helms when he was introduced on the fourth season of The Office. Andy Bernard had instant student appeal -- his college years were his glory days, and Bernard had endless Cornell University stories to share.

To diehard Office fans, it was no surprise when Helms’s character replaced Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott as branch manager. Helms and co-star Rainn Wilson have kept the show alive despite speculation over whether the show could succeed without Carrell.

Then there was The Hangover. Helms’s portrayal of lovable dentist Stu earned him the lead role in the film’s sequel, and students sang his tiger lullaby for years after the film was released. Cameos in films like Evan Almighty and Confessions of a Shopaholic solidified Helms as a recognizable face in comedy.

Helms's role as the pivotal Once-ler in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax drew older crowds in addition to the expected parents and children. Helms sings no less than five songs in The Lorax, despite the fact that fellow cast members Taylor Swift and Zac Efron have singing experience. But it’s hard to imagine any other actor playing the Once-ler -- the small-town boy who follows his dreams is such a characteristically Helms role that the thought of anyone else singing about “barbaloot suits” is unfathomable.

But what makes Helms’s roles so loved by the college scene? His characters are relatable but still unrealistic enough to keep things lighthearted.

The Ed Helms stereotype is a naïve, hardworking character who tries his best to succeed but is constantly put down by others. You cheer for him. You want things to go well for him. But they never do.

In The Office, Bernard’s parents tell him a managerial position isn’t an accomplishment and that they favor his brother. In The Lorax, the Once-ler’s mother tells him his inventions will fail.

In some ways, the Helmsian character is the perpetual college student, dropping everything to follow love or his career without fully thinking the consequences through. But in other ways, the Helmsian man is someone no college student wants to become -- a successful businessman who can’t make his relationships with others seem to work, though he’s a genuinely good person.

But isn’t that what we’re all afraid of, really? Success is great, but not if there’s no one to share it with. And there could be worse ways to learn that lesson than by hearing Ed Helms sing.

Meghan DeMaria is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.