One of the funniest moments in ‘The Hangover‘ (2009) comes when Stu Price stares into a bathroom mirror and realizes one of his front teeth is missing. The scene has become one of the film’s most memorable gags, with many viewers mistaking the missing tooth to be makeup, prosthetics, or CGI, only it wasn’t.
The shocking reveal audiences saw on screen was completely real. Ed Helms didn’t do any movie tricks to pull off the funny sequences. Here’s what he did to make the unforgettable moment far more authentic than anyone expected.
Ed Helms Actually Removed His Tooth For ‘The Hangover’
Before landing the role of Stu, Helms was already familiar to television audiences as Andy Bernard in ‘The Office.’ But when director Todd Phillips began working on ‘The Hangover,’ the production faced an unexpected problem.
Related: 10 Chaotic Comedy Movies For ‘The Hangover’ Fans
The team experimented with prosthetics and makeup to create the look of Stu’s missing front tooth. None of the tests looked convincing enough on camera. That’s when Helms shared a revelation that only a few people knew about.
The actor had been born without one of his permanent front teeth. As a teenager, he received a dental implant to replace it. Since the visible tooth was an implant crown attached to a post, it could be safely removed. Helms suggested using his real implant instead of relying on visual effects.
He spoke with his dentist, who agreed to unscrew the implant crown for the scenes where Stu’s tooth was missing. Once filming wrapped, the crown was simply placed back onto the implant. On screen, the result looked flawless because it was no illusion. Audiences were seeing Helms’ actual smile with the implant removed.
How Helms Hid His Missing Tooth While Filming ‘The Office’
Removing the implant solved one problem for Helms and Phillips’ team, but it created another. While filming ‘The Hangover,’ Helms also appeared as Andy Bernard on ‘The Office.’ He couldn’t spend weeks walking around without a front tooth every time he reported to the sitcom’s set.
In Case You Missed It: 10 Great Netflix Comedy Movies
His dentist came up with a simple solution. Between filming scenes for ‘The Hangover,’ Helms wore a removable replacement tooth known as a “flipper.” The appliance filled the gap whenever he wasn’t shooting the scenes that required Stu’s missing tooth.
Helms later admitted he kept the flipper a secret from much of the ‘The Office’ cast and crew because he wasn’t sure how they’d react. Whenever he returned to play Andy Bernard, he simply popped the temporary tooth back into place.
The commitment paid off. ‘The Hangover’ became one of the biggest comedy hits of 2009, and Stu’s missing tooth remains one of its defining images. What makes the scene even more memorable is knowing there was almost no movie trickery involved.
Helms’ willingness to remove his own implant gave the sequence a level of realism that makeup artists couldn’t recreate. More than 15 years later, many fans are still surprised to learn that one of comedy’s most famous sequences was completely real.
You Might Also Like To Read: Why Netflix Didn’t Bring Millie Bobby Brown Back As Eleven For New ‘Stranger Things’ Series
