AMC’s “The Walking Dead” seems like the kind of show that the characters on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” would discuss and pick apart for its use of zombie tropes. However, the two shows have another, surprisingly direct connection in the shape of one particular actor who appears on both of them.
Said actor is Steven Yeun, who plays the plucky but ultimately unfortunate Glenn Rhee on “The Walking Dead.” Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s villain-turned-protagonist Negan famously murders Glenn and Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) in the show’s season 7 premiere, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be.” As it happens, a similarly abrupt (though far less baseball bat-happy) exit befalls on Yeun’s “The Big Bang Theory” character Sebastian, who appears briefly in season 3, episode 22, “The Staircase Implementation.”
Appearing solely in a flashback that depicts Leonard Hofstadter’s (Johnny Galecki) first impressions of his future roommate Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Yeun’s Sebastian turns up as a former resident who’s exiting the building with some haste after withstanding Sheldon’s antics, and heartily recommends that Leonard flees as well. This is all we ever find out about poor Sebastian, and all the strange and terrible Sheldon things he’s heavily implied to have faced remain forever unaddressed. Based on the roommate trials Leonard has to go through as the flashback continues, however, it can’t have been very easy.
Yeun’s The Big Bang Theory cameo came at the brink of his The Walking Dead stardom
From “Star Trek” actors popping in to Sean Astin (whose own appearance left Mayim Bialik starstruck), “The Big Bang Theory” has no shortage of legendary cameos and full-on guest stars. In hindsight, Steven Yeun’s appearance as Sebastian is particularly noteworthy because it took place in 2010, just before he broke big as Glenn. Yeun has since gone on to carve out a magnificent career in movies like Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari (for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award) and Jordan Peele’s “Nope,” as well as shows like “Beef” and the animated superhero saga “Invincible.”
Speaking with Interview Magazine back in 2011, Yeoun addressed his “The Big Bang Theory” cameo and its significance to his career, revealing that it was one of the very first jobs he had outside of improv theater work after he relocated to Los Angeles. He also opened up about how he got the role, explaining:
“First thing I landed was three commercials in one sitting. It was great. Those kept me alive for a while. Then I tested for a pilot on ABC that I didn’t get, but the casting director threw me a small part on ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ After that was ‘The Walking Dead.’ It was a very fortunate six months.”
“The Big Bang Theory” is currently streaming in its entirety on Max.
