No matter how many times you’ve watched The Big Bang Theory, we’re willing to bet that there is so much that you don’t know about the hit series.
For instance, did you know that Sandra Bullock was supposed to appear on the show? Her role went to another very popular actor after her team sent a “polite decline” to the offer for a simple reason.
Revolving around Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, so much happened onscreen, but it turns out that just as much was going on when fans weren’t watching.
Following the grand finale of the spinoff series Young Sheldon this week, we did some digging and rustled up 12 facts about the show, including details about guest stars who turned down roles (that list includes a massive pop star), actors who were almost overlooked, onset romances, future plans for reboots and more.
One actor even admitted to using their dressing room for hook ups. Take a look and let us know what, if anything surprised you!
Selena Gomez almost had a part on the show, and Sandra Bullock reportedly opted out of a cameo…
We already mentioned that the show had so many celebrity cameos, but there were also a few that didn’t work out. Some of them came to light in The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.
For starters, Selena Gomez was once considered for a role as Mayhim‘s stepsister. Executive producer Steve Molaro said that “it never worked out due to scheduling.”
Meanwhile, executive producer Steve Holland revealed that Sandra Bullock was considered for a role that ultimately went to Sarah Michelle Gellar. “We were really excited about it, but we got a polite decline because she was shooting a movie and wasn’t available,” they explained, via TV Line.
Johnny Galecki had sex in the dressing room, not with Kaley Cuoco…
While appearing on The Late Show! in 2019, Johnny was the only member of The Big Bang Theory to fess up to having sex in the show’s dressing room. Kaley made it very clear that she was not involved.
The original cast members accepted a pay cut to share the wealth with other co-stars…
According to a report in 2017, the five original stars of the show each took a pay cut totaling around $100,000 an episode to share the wealth with Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik for the final two seasons.
After the cut, it’s believed that Jim, Kaley, Johnny, Simon and Kunal each made around $900,000 an episode. Melissa and Mayim received approximately $450,000.
Do you know the richest star from The Big Bang Theory?
Macaulay Culkin was reported offered a spot on the show but instead threw shade at it…
While The Big Bang Theory was beloved to many of its dedicated fans, it wasn’t a hit for everyone. As it turns out, Macaulay Culkin was offered a spot on the show but was less than impressed by the pitch.
“They pursued me for The Big Bang Theory. And I said no. It was kind of like, the way the pitch was, ‘Alright, these two astrophysicist nerds and a pretty girl lives with them. Yoinks!’ That was the pitch. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m cool, thanks.’ And then they came back at me again, and I said, ‘No, no, no. Again, flattered, but no.’ Then they came back at me again, and even my manager was like twisting my arm,” he said during an appearance on Joe Rogan‘s podcast in 2018.
He continued, adding, “I’d have hundreds of millions of dollars right now if I did that gig. At the same time, I’d be bashing my head against the wall.”
Kaley Cuoco almost wasn’t a part of the show…
Back in 2019, Kaley revealed that she had initially auditioned for a different part in the show and was overlooked. At the time, there were concerns about her age.
“I was too young, which I love saying because I don’t get to say that I’m too young anymore. Then, a year later, I heard they were doing it again, and they brought me back in to read for Penny,” she told Cinema Blend.
We recently learned that Kaley joined the show made a major difference.
The show featured some big-name guest stars, who sometimes struggled with the gig…
The cast of The Big Bang Theory shared the screen with a variety of A-list cameos over the years. An incomplete list includes the likes of Elon Musk, Octavia Spencer, Carrie Fisher and Stan Lee.
During an interview for Variety, Kaley explained that the show pushed quite a few of their guest stars well out of their comfort zone.
“We’d have these guest stars come on, and some of them were wonderful dramatic actors or whatever, and they would feel so lost for a while. It really is so musical, and you find if you’re one second (out) it can mess up a whole thing,” she recalled. “Because I grew up with it, and I did it for so long, it’s been so natural for me. But I started to see, ‘This is hard for some people, to find their footing with the audience.’ It’s very different if you haven’t done it.”
Johnny Galecki used a set piece to dispose of his chewing gum…
You likely won’t be surprised to learn that the set of The Big Bang Theory was much smaller than it appeared. However, while confirming that in 2022, Kunal revealed a different secret about how Johnny consistently stuck chewed gum on one set piece – a fake wall that was used for the steps.
“Down there is nothing. There’s a wall there where Johnny Galecki, for 12 years, would stick his chewing gum on. I’m not joking,” he said. “So if any of you are Johnny Galecki fans and you want his dried chewing gum, I am sure it’s for sale somewhere on the internet. Welcome to Hollywood.”
The cast of Big Bang Theory were involved in a Friends reunion in 2016…
Twelve years after wrapping up Friends, the cast got back together again at Must See TV: A Tribute to James Burrows in 2016. While there, five members of the main cast of the beloved sitcom linked up with a group of The Big Bang Theory stars for a massive photo-op. See the cute pic!
Speaking of, have you seen what the cast of Friends has had to say about a reboot? Only three of its stars have directly addressed the possibility.
HBO Max is working on a spinoff of the show…
In April 2023, HBO announced plans to begin working on a new series inspired by The Big Bang Theory.
At the time of publishing, we don’t know much about the show, but it will be the second spinoff following Young Sheldon. HBO also announced plans to work on new Harry Potter and Game of Thrones content at the time.
Interestingly, one of the franchise’s stars weighed in on if they’d return…
Mayhim Bialik would be down to appear in the new show, but she didn’t know anything…
By the sounds of it, the cast of The Big Bang Theory was as surprised by the news as its fans. However, Mayhim added that she was definitely interested in coming back.
“If I am, I don’t know it. I got the news like everybody else,” she told E! News when asked if she was involved. “We’re all still pretty close, so there was a lot of texting going on. And I asked my agent. He was like, ‘I don’t know.’ I guess no one knows at this point, but I can’t wait to find out.”
“I’ll do anything related to anything like that,” she added, saying she was intrigued. “But yeah, we really have no idea. So I’m in the same boat as everyone else.”
Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco navigated sex scenes as a pair after splitting up…
Johnny and Kaley were an item for two years near the start of the show. However, after they broke up, their characters were still getting intimate. She joked that they seemingly amped up the sex scenes at that point.
“When we broke up obviously it was a little sensitive for a minute, but I remember those weeks that Chuck had written these episodes where all of a sudden our characters were like sleeping together every other second,” she said in 2020. “Johnny and I talk about it and I think [Chuck] did that on purpose — just to f-ck with us.”
They obviously worked things out, with Kaley saying that they “came out of it so brilliantly and we’re closer today than we ever were.”
Kaley Cuoco took a piece of the set home with her…
Back in 2019, Kaley revealed that she was planning to take something home with her from set after filming was done – a poster that was in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment.
“It’s something that I love so much and I’ve looked at it for 12 years,” she explained. “It’s always in my eyeline from where I sit in the living room set. So I’m glad I’m going to put it in my own living room so I’ll see it forever.”
Check out more set secrets!
