Ed Helms Talks Chevy Chase’s ‘Vacation’ Return, Chris Hemsworth’s Prosethetic Package

Ed Helms knows he’s entered sacred comedy ground by taking over as patriarch of the Griswold family in the new Vacation, but it helped that his predecessor was there to figuratively hand off the keys.

Chevy Chase, who played the beloved, bumbling dad Clark Griswold in four previous Vacation films, never pulled his new onscreen son aside for a pep talk, but it was Chase’s presence in the new sequel, Helms said, that gave him the vote of confidence.

“In a way, his eagerness to be in the movie, and to be Clark Griswold, and to do those scenes, I guess that could be interpreted as a baton-passing moment,” Helms, 41, told us in a recent interview, which you can watch above.

Chase, who appears with longtime screen spouse Beverly D'Angelo, is one of many well-known actors to pop up in small roles in Vacation. And getting the biggest buzz of them all is a man known best as Marvel’s Thor, Chris Hemsworth, who plays a very well endowed charmer the Griswolds meet along the way.

“Watch the movie, and find out, because you get to stare at it yourself,” Helms said when asked what it was like to work with Hemsworth’s — how shall we say? — hammer. And while it was a prosthetic, Helms said, he does want us to know that “it was molded off of me.”

Vacation is now in theaters. Watch Helms take our quiz on the Rusty Griswolds who came before him: