Kunal Nayyar, known for his role Raj Koothrappali on The Big Bang Theory, recently relived his time on the sitcom. He also confessed to a behind-the-scenes habit that exasperated his…
Kunal Nayyar, known for his role Raj Koothrappali on The Big Bang Theory, recently relived his time on the sitcom. He also confessed to a behind-the-scenes habit that exasperated his co-stars. Nayyar admitted to frequently breaking character by laughing during filming.
The Big Bang Theory
Kunal Nayyar played Dr. Rajesh Koothrapali, an astrophysicist working at Caltech. He’s part of a group of friends including Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist (Johnny Galecki), Dr. Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist (Jim Parsons), and Howard Wolowitz, an engineer and NASA astronaut (Simon Helberg). Leonard and Sheldon live across from Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an aspiring actress and The Cheesecake Factory waitress. She’s Leonard’s love interest.
At the beginning of season 4, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) joined as Sheldon’s love interest, and Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowzki (Melissa Rauch), who once worked with Penny and ended up becoming Howard’s wife.
Kunal Nayyar: “It Really Pissed Everyone Off, But I Couldn’t Help It”
In a recent episode of The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast, Nayyar admitted to host Jessica Radloff, “I was the worst in the beginning on the show. I broke all the time. It really pissed everyone off, but I couldn’t help it. I don’t know why.”
His character is best friends with Howard, meaning he’s got a lot of scenes with Helberg, whose comedic timing often leaves him in stitches. He told Radloff, “Simon is a genius. You know what I mean?” He also praised how Helberg could turn a “simple line” and send him into breaking his character.
Nayyar imitated him, “Just the cadence in which \[he said] ‘Friday works for me!’ Like, it was so beautifully musical and just ridiculous. He’s a genius. It was very hard for me to keep a straight face. They probably cut away because I started laughing, and then they cut back, and I look a little like I’ve just been trying to, you know, not laugh out loud, basically.”
The line Nayyar was referred to was from Season 1, Episode 8, when Raj was set up by his parents. Since he can’t talk to women, Howard set the date for him and called Lalita Gupta and told her, “Friday works for me!” It was in this episode that he also found out he’s able to talk to women, provided he’s got a buzz going.
