Jim Parsons feared his sexuality might risk his job in TBBT.
Before starring as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, the actor was mostly notable for playing a man raised by wolves in the hilarious 2003 Quiznos commercial. However, this changed following the success of TBBT, which shot him to stardom and made him one of the biggest names in TV and was even offered an eight-figure salary to continue playing Sheldon.
But despite being one of the top names at the time, the actor feared talking about his sexuality during the sitcom’s initial years following the stigma surrounding LGBTQ+ people at the time.
Jim Parsons Initially Avoided Speaking About His Sexuality
The 2010s were a drastically different time for the LGBTQ+ community compared to recent times, and Jim Parsons feared that his sexuality would risk his job in The Big Bang Theory.
While the actor never denied being gay, following the stigma surrounding it at the time, the actor made sure to not speak about it publically.
He recalled:
So I was scared. I wasn’t scared about losing my job. And I wasn’t scared to the point of denying my sexuality. But I was scared enough to make it my mission not to talk about it.
However, The Big Bang Theory star did open up about it eventually in 2012 with an interview with The New York Times, stating,
I can’t remember the exact question, but he asked about something to the effect of, ‘Was it more meaningful to be a part of The Normal Heart being gay? yes. I remember leaving there going, well, I sort of just took the back door out, as it were. I remember thinking it was kind of poetically perfect.
Moreover, the actor tied the knot with his boyfriend Todd Spiewak, known for projects like Spoiler Alert and A Kid Like Jake, in 2017.
Chuck Lorres Initially Imagined Sheldon Cooper as Asexual
As for his character, Sheldon Cooper, who got engaged with Mayim Bialik‘s Amy, showrunner Chuck Lorre initially imagined him as asexual in the initial seasons of the sitcom. So when it came to introducing a potential love interest for the character, Lorre ensured that it wasn’t rushed.
[When we] … eventually did enter Sheldon into a relationship … we did it very slowly, and in a way that made us feel like we hadn’t done a 90-degree turn at all.
But while this naturally fitted in with the character’s story, interestingly, Bialik felt she would be axed from the show early, and was taken by surprise when she was eventually made a regular.
