‘The Office’: Which Cast Members Ruined the Most Takes by Laughing?

To say that The Office is a funny show would be a gross understatement. The mockumentary-style show was chock full of ridiculous situations and over-the-top humor. However, there’s no shortage of subtle comedy in the series as well. Fans of the NBC comedy loved when characters would look pointedly into the camera or deliver a sharp pun. But as hilarious as The Office is to watch, it was sometimes even funnier for the cast to film.

‘The Office’ cast further enhanced the show with occasional improvisation

Part of what makes The Office such a beloved show is its large, dynamic, ensemble cast. Each actor brought something truly unique to the show. Furthermore, quite a few of the actors had a background in comedy and/or improv. Steve Carell, for example, was trained at The Second City. This meant that he was constantly able to think on his feet, adding elements of improvisation which would leave his fellow actors in stitches.

The actors would often break character whilst filming funny episodes

It wasn’t uncommon for some of the actors to break character whenever they were filming a particularly hilarious scene. For example, real-life best friends, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey were always overcome with giggles whenever they had scenes together. Of course, some actors were far better at keeping it together than others. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ed Helms revealed which actors ruined the most takes with their laughter, and who always kept it together.

Which three cast members of ‘The Office’ ruined the most takes by laughing?

“If you’ve ever watched Office outtakes, you know it can be a disaster when we start laughing,” Helms shared. “Oscar Nunez was legendary because he was unbreakable. He never, ever broke. On the other end of the spectrum, you had me and [John] Krasinski and Angela [Kinsey], and we were just like giggle maniacs. If something tickled with us, it was over. And we would ruin take after take after take and burn a lot of film.”

The ‘Dinner Party’ episode of ‘The Office’ was particularly difficult to film

One episode, in particular, where Krasinski, Kinsey, and Helms had to fight to keep it together was the ‘Dinner Party” episode in season 4 of The Office. When Michael shows off his tiny plasma screen TV, the cast was doing everything they could to keep their laughter at bay. Helms admits that he even had to focus his attention elsewhere just to make it through the iconic scene.

“I had never laughed so hard as I did than during that scene,” Helms shared about filming the scene from the fan-favorite episode of The Office. “I had my little trick: If I was really laughing, I would began to look at Steve’s ear. That was my trick. I couldn’t make eye contact with him because I would laugh, so I would either look at his chin or his ear or even something behind him and just focus on that, just so that I could get through something and keep a straight face.”

Clearly, the cast of The Office had a ton of fun filming the hit show. And while it may have taken them a few times to get the necessary shots, they eventually were able to quell their giggling for long enough to get through the more humorous scenes.