‘The Big Bang Theory’ Audition Tales: 7 Stars Tell All

Jim Parsons (Sheldon)

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I worked my ass off on it! You have no idea how well memorized I was. Sheldon has so much to say sometimes — it's not as bad as it used to be — and it was really dense and it was clear to me that the humor that was built into this was only if these dense pieces flowed very easily. I drilled the shit out of it! I was very scared — and excited to present it to them — but scared because I knew that once the train started, if I messed up, I didn't know what would happen. I remember getting through the first one and it went just like butter. It was a lovely time and I thought, "I bet they'll let me go [on]." It was a long scene and I thought they'd do a call-back. They said, "Great, let's do the next one." I said, "Oh God," and they asked if I wanted to take a moment. I said no; if I went out in the hall I'd freak myself out. So I just plowed through. Obviously, it went OK. I remember it all so vividly. That's one of the things about the 200th episode that freaks me out so much — I remember every step of the way with a certain vividness.
Johnny Galecki (Leonard)

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I was working at a theater in New York and Chuck Lorre called and said, "Me and Bill Prady are talking about something; we don't have anything written yet but we will in a couple weeks. Can we fax you a couple of pages?" That was it. We later did a chemistry read between Jim and I once they found him. That was in front of the studio and network and if they hated me at that point, they could have cut me. Nothing was signed contractually at that point. Jim and I immediately hit it off. We were outside in the hall beforehand and I asked if he wanted to read the scene through a few times first. He said no, and I said me neither. We just chatted. It was really amazing to see Sheldon come to life like that. It wasn't a character that I understood on the page initially and seeing Jim do his first line as Sheldon, I got it and now I get these two together.
Kaley Cuoco (Penny)

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I remember sitting next to Jim in the waiting room and he had a Blackberry. It was an older phone and I remember introducing myself to him. He said he couldn't get his Blackberry working and was talking to it. I thought, "This guy would be a hilarious Sheldon." It might have been a Nextel, I don't know what it was!
Simon Helberg (Howard)

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I remember almost not going in because I was working on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and it was the beginning of pilot season. I was working with a great group of people and loved this pilot. I read Big Bang the year before — they shot it twice — and read it the first year. I thought, "Why are they doing this again?" There was a new character and it was great but I was on Studio 60 and my agents had to talk me into going. I remember Chuck and Bill laughing a lot — and the look Chuck gave me. He can have a look in his eyes that you can't really read him but he was smiling. I thought some wheels were turning. I knew he liked what I did and I'll never forget hearing that laugh. It's still the highlight of my day when I hear that laugh.
Kunal Nayyar (Raj)

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It was amazing. I had no idea I was going to get the role. I remember [co-creators] Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady laughing a lot and I just felt so much in my element. I'd just gotten my MFA in acting from Temple University and was high on life and just got back from the Royal Shakespeare company in England. I wasn't jaded and didn't understand the weight of the situation. This was my second job, I played a terrorist on NCIS. I didn't understand the gravitas of the situation and just walked in. That was so dumb!
Mayim Bialik (Amy)

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I auditioned with five other actresses — none of whom were neuroscientists — who were really talented and many of whom I knew of. There wasn't a lot of lines; it was five lines in that season three finale. They told us all to wait after we went in. They called two of us back in. We went home and found out that afternoon.
Melissa Rauch (Bernadette)

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I was a fan of the show when I got the audition. That week, I had been at the unemployment office to get my unemployment check. I had to go to this seminar about how to get a job. It was awful. It was a dark week! (Laughing.) I got the audition in my email and it said Big Bang Theory and it was a show that I'd been watching. I was excited and psyched myself out thinking there was no way. There were a ton of girls at the audition. When they brought me in a second time for all the producers, they'd narrowed it down to six of us. In the audition, for some reason, I had to say the word "about" and it came out "abouuuut," and Chuck asked me if I was Canadian. My nerves were making me sound Canadian! I did the audition with my Bernadette voice — though it was a bit lower. I had my mom's voice in my head and was trying to do that. I got the call on my drive back to my shitty apartment and I was so excited. I stepped over the homeless man sleeping outside my building, opened the door and screamed to my husband that I got the part. It was for one episode at the time and it was a dream come true.

Jim Parsons (Sheldon)

Johnny Galecki (Leonard)

Kaley Cuoco (Penny)

Simon Helberg (Howard)

Kunal Nayyar (Raj)

Mayim Bialik (Amy)

Melissa Rauch (Bernadette)