TVSquad

Imagine this scene: an early-evening party in a hotel lounge area. Half the people there are reporters; the other half are actors and producers from NBC shows. To give you an idea: Ali Larter and Hayden Panettiere of Heroes were there; Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, and Melora Hardin of The Office were milling about; Meredith Vieira was bonding with reporters; and Shane West, Linda Cardellini and Parminder Nagra of ER were talking into tape recorders (Parminder's nickname is "Mindy", by the way). There were others there, but those are the ones I remember.

Then there was Ed Helms. He was also at the party to represent The Office; but, unlike some of the other cast members, he wasn't exactly a veteran of press events like this. So he sticks by the bar, chatting it up with a friend (heck, I'd do the same thing if I were in his place). He happily but guardedly starts speaking to a small group of reporters (including me) who wanted to find out what it's like to be the guy who made Dwight Schrute likable. Then, all of a sudden, one of the women listening in starts to slowly slink to the floor.

Yes, that's right, kiddies: someone started to pass out right in front of us. Considering she wasn't drunk, why she did so was a bit of a mystery; it was pretty warm in there, and she might have been a bit dehydrated. Either way, she was slowly falling down, and we had to do something. It was fascinating how in that moment, the relationship suddenly turned from "reporter-reportee" to just a bunch of people trying to help out a person in distress, as a bunch of us tried to get her on her feet and clear the way to a sofa so she could lie down.

Helms, of course, was one of them. In fact, he kind of took the lead on the whole operation, trying to flag down a bartender to tell him that the woman needed medical attention -- the bartenders just stood there and stared, not knowing what to do -- all the while trying to help us get her to the couch. It wasn't easy; even though the fainter was in pretty good shape, in her condition she was just 100 pounds of dead weight. Anyway, as we tried to get her to the couch, she suddenly came to, and the woman's friend took her out on the patio to get some fresh air.

In pretty quick order, Ed and I grabbed some water from the bartenders and took it outside to help her out. From there, we just hung out, making sure the woman was OK. She was embarrassed, but Ed did a great job of making her feel better, engaging her in conversation and making funny but sympathetic jokes about her fainting spell and about how no one really noticed (they really didn't... just the small group around the stricken woman were aware of what was going on).

Ed was actually pretty happy he could hang out and not get asked questions by reporters. We talked about moving out to LA and what he's been doing there when not filming The Office. Since I had a little improv background (very little), the two of us talked about the UCB Theatre and ASSSSCAT and a few other things, then we went back to more joking with the woman who passed out.

Right before the group broke up -- we must have been talking for at least a half-hour -- the woman gave Ed her card. When I ran into her at the hotel the next day, she told me that Ed e-mailed her, not only making sure she was OK, but also thanking her for giving him an excuse to escape the crowd and just have a fun conversation.

The reason why I'm telling you this story? It's just to show you that there are some pretty nice, down-to-earth people out there, even in Hollywood. Ed Helms is one of those people. If this somehow reaches Mr. Helms, I'd also like to extend my thanks for not only helping out, but making the night a lot of fun for a woman who would have otherwise left the party feeling mortified. It was fun for me, too. Cheers, Ed!