Jim Parsons was initially turned down after his audition for ‘The Big Bang Theory’
Bill Prady, who created the show alongside Chuck Lorre revealed during an appearance on the 'At Home with the Creative Coalition' podcast that Lorre wasn't initially sure about casting Parsons following his audition.
Washington: Creators of the American television sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ recently revealed that actor Jim Parsons, who played the iconic role of Sheldon Cooper on the CBS show was almost turned down initially.
According to People magazine, Bill Prady, who created the show alongside Chuck Lorre revealed during an appearance on the ‘At Home with the Creative Coalition’ podcast that Lorre wasn’t initially sure about casting Parsons following his audition.
Prady recalled of the audition process and said “when Jim Parsons came in, he was Sheldon on a level — you know, there were people who came in and you went, ‘Okay, well, he’s kind of okay,’ ‘Oh, he’s pretty good,’ ‘Maybe he’s the guy.’ And Jim came in and he was just — from that audition, he was the Sheldon that you saw on television.” He further added that “He created that character at that audition, and he left the room and I turned and I went, ‘That’s the guy! That’s the guy! That’s the guy!’ And Chuck turned and he said, ‘Nah, he’s gonna break your heart. He’ll never give you that performance again.'” Prady stated that this disagreement was the only time Lorre’s instinct was wrong and he was right.
The rest was history, with Parsons helping to make Sheldon one of the most popular characters in comedy history. It even inspired the ‘Young Sheldon’ spin-off series based on the character’s life as a child.
Parsons starred as Sheldon on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ from its premiere in 2007 until its series finale in 2019.
