Already three years ago, the faithful of The Big Bang Theory bid farewell to the cult sitcom. A fiction whose casting was almost very different, as we learn in a book released recently. An actor who marked the big screen has refused the role of Leonard three times.
After twelve seasons of humour, friendship, love and science, The Big Bang Theory bowed out in 2019. If the end of the cult sitcom was not initially planned, it was Jim Parsons, the interpreter of Sheldon Cooper, who signed the end of the program. Indeed, at the end of the twelfth season, the 46-year-old actor learned of the death of his father. A painful event that made him put a lot of things in perspective. “If you tell me that I only have six years left to live, like my father, then I tell myself thatthere are plenty of other things I would like to do”he had confided to David Tennant, who should make his comeback in the cult series Doctor Who. Without the presence of Sheldon Cooper, on whom the comic genius of the show largely rested, it is difficult to imagine a sequel to the adventures of Penny, Leonard, Howard and the others.
The role of Leonard should have been interpreted by another actor
Leonard is one of the key characters in the series. It is performed by Johnny Galecki. But, originally, the role had been conceived for someone else. It is Macaulay Culkin, the cult actor of the film Mom I missed the plane !, that the producers had in mind to play the role of the scientist. “They offered me several times and I said no. They explained the pitch to me, telling me that I had to play the role of a nerd who lives in collocation with a pretty girl. I told them ‘No, it’s okay thanks’. I was flattered but no. I would have hundreds of millions of dollars by now if I had accepted!“ said the actor. “But, at the same time, I would bang my head against the wall…” “We had some really great meetings with Macaulay… Then he finally said he wasn’t interested“, reported the other co-creator of the show, Bill Prady.
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Selena Gomez, also approached for a role
Macaulay Culkin isn’t the only star to miss out on a role in The Big Bang Theory, Selena Gomez too! Fan of the show, the ex-girlfriend of Justin Bieber was approached by the producers to play the half-sister of Amy, described as “beautiful, awesome and that everyone loves”. Unfortunately for us, the star’s busy schedule Only Murders in the Building got the better of the project.
Article written in collaboration with 6médias.
