The Office’s Ed Helms Channeled His Childhood Bullies For His Catchphrase – Looper

During an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ed Helms and Colbert bonded over the fact that they both grew up in the South, where they learned to be ultra-polite. Colbert wanted to know how that trained politeness led to Helms’ career, which is full of rude or crass roles; aside from playing Andy in “The Office,” Helms also starred in “The Hangover,” a film series known for its raunchy humor. Helms explained that the roles have acted as an outlet for any repressed rage he felt growing up and having to be polite all the time, even when being bullied. However, he also revealed that something positive emerged from being bullied: this experience helped him come up with Andy’s catchphrase on “The Office.”

Helms explained, “[The catchphrase] started as a thing that these bullies at my school would [say] after they gave you a wedgie or pushed you down or, you know, humiliated you somehow, they’d go ‘Rit-dit-dit-da-do! as a sort of expression of dominance.” Colbert, laughing over the anecdote, was surprised to learn about the bullies’ catchphrase. Helms said that it was even more terrifying to him as a kid because it made no sense.

Helms continued, “It’s just one of those irrational expressions. So I took that and made something positive. It became Andy Bernard’s expression of joy.”