Take it from TV's 'Andy Bernard': 'Be that fool'

A few minutes into his convocation address, actor Ed Helms cut to the chase: "You do realize I'm not actually Andy Bernard, right? He isn't a real person. He is a character from a TV show, and I am the actor who played him. Or did you actually invite a fictional person to give this speech?" But after eight years on the sitcom "The Office" playing Andy, the "conniving, obnoxious, desperate for attention" middle manager and Cornell alumnus with an undying devotion to his alma mater, Helms ended up learning something from his fictional identity. Andy wore his heart on his sleeve, had a great capacity to love and was overall a "glorious, vulnerable fool." To learn at least that much from Andy - to "be a fool" - was the message Helms imparted to the Cornell Class of 2014 as its Senior Convocation speaker, May 24. His remarks followed the arc of his rise to acting fame, first on "The Daily Show," then "The Office" and the "Hangover" movies, and the wisdom he's picked up along the way. For instance, though "only a fool would risk failure," Helms encouraged the Class of 2014 to do just that. "Outcomes, good or bad, allow us to move forward," he said, after sharing his "epic fail" of directing a music video with some friends just after college.