The Office costars Rainn Wilson and Ed Helms recently reminisced on the good old days working on the sitcom — and the line that stuck with them years after wrapping.
Helms made an appearance on the most recent episode of Wilson’s podcast Soul Boom. The actors discussed what they believe is one of the “wisest, truest lines” in TV, delivered by Helms’ character.
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them,” Andy Bernard (Helms) says as he makes his final exit during the series finale.
Wilson, who played uptight assistant Dwight Schrute, said the line “kind of summed up the whole show.” He added that he wished he had appreciated his own time on The Office more.
“I really wish I had just spent more time just being like, ‘This is it. It just doesn’t get better than this,'” he said.
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The podcast host said that he and his coworkers were often thinking about the next movie, commercial deal, or production company they could pursue. The Hangover actor agreed that, while the show was fun to make, much of the cast was “striving elsewhere.”
“I think it’s partly a function of what our business tells us to do and, like, prescribes,” Helms said. “Here are the pathways and here’s what you’re supposed to be. There are a lot of external forces sort of telling you to keep striving and not to take stock, which is unfortunate.”
After more than a decade removed from the show, the We’re the Millers star said he misses the “wonderful energy” on the set of The Office. The series ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013.
Listen to the full episode of Soul Boom with Ed Helms below.
