Before he became one of the most underappreciated characters on “The Big Bang Theory,” actor Kevin Sussman was set to play a member of the show’s core group. According to Jessica Radloff’s book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series,” series co-creator Chuck Lorre and pilot director (and sitcom history legend) William Burrows didn’t just want Sussman for the role of Howard Wolowitz –- they wrote it for him. In fact, the actor who would go on to play comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom was at one point even hired to play Howard, but the deal dissolved quickly for a bizarre reason.
According to Radloff’s book, Sussman originally auditioned for the part of Leonard, and while he wasn’t a perfect fit, producers wanted him on the show. “We loved him, especially after he first came in and auditioned for Leonard in the first pilot,” co-creator Bill Brady explained, noting that Wolowitz was indeed “written for Kevin.” Sussman similarly recalled auditioning for the part of Howard in front of Lorre and Burrows, and getting the part soon after:
“As soon as I was done reading for Wolowitz, James Burrows said, ‘Okay, yeah.’ And then I got a call saying I had booked it.”
Sussman also noted that at that point, he was playing the character as a “version of a super-cocky, sex-obsessed guy” who couldn’t be more different from depressed sweetheart Stuart.
Ugly Betty stood in the way of Kevin Sussman’s casting
At a celebratory dinner that night, Sussman got a call telling him that the deal had fallen apart for reasons that related to his role on ABC’s “Ugly Betty,” a hit that was in its first season at the time. Sussman played Betty’s starter boyfriend Walter, who she soon breaks up with while harboring feelings for Christopher Gorham’s Henry. Sussman is credited in 20 episodes of “Ugly Betty,” but he was actually gone by the show’s 15th episode. In the 2022 “Big Bang Theory” book, his take on the fiasco was that the “Ugly Betty” producers gave him their blessing to do another show, but that a business affairs issue at ABC meant he wasn’t actually released from his contract in time to play Howard. Other people who worked on “The Big Bang Theory” have a more cynical read on the situation.
“ABC made a very petty gesture because Kevin was maybe a recurring character on ‘Ugly Betty’ –- and we had been told they were writing the character out of the series,” Lorre said. “However, when they found out we were interested in him in a regular role on a CBS show, they decided not to write the character out of the series.” Once Helberg was cast in the part of Howard, ABC didn’t have Sussman back on “Ugly Betty” after all –- in what Lorre appropriately called “a dick move.” Casting director Ken Miller seemed to agree, noting that “ABC had an option on Kevin and wouldn’t release him […] They kept him from getting that role on ‘Big Bang.'”
One version of this story is certainly more generous than the other, but cutthroat maneuvers between TV competitors do still happen, even if they seem like the stuff of old Hollywood legend. Variety wrote about the outdated system of exclusive contracts for actors and writers in 2021, explaining that the standard deals stop artists “from booking other jobs in that time without a complicated process of approvals, hindering scribes’ ability to chase other job opportunities.” With this in mind, it sounds like Sussman was stuck on ABC as a technicality, even though he was already being written off “Ugly Betty.”
Sussman still ended up with a great (if underrated) role on the show
Brady got support for the “Big Bang” team’s theory about what happened when he met an “Ugly Betty” writer years later. The writer said that the ABC show’s writers’ room was given an unusual order to try to write Sussman back into the show, which the person he spoke with said was “an insane instruction” that was “impossible to do.” With that account in mind, it seemed clear that the blocking of Sussman’s casting was more than just a paperwork snafu. “The inference from that was that it was just vindictive,” Brady explained. “That they were simply looking for a way to deny another show an actor.”
In terms of pop cultural cachet, “The Big Bang Theory” certainly dominates the zeitgeist more than “Ugly Betty” these days, and as several interviewees for the book point out, Sussman did end up with a role that he made great. The actor played Stuart for 84 episodes of “Big Bang Theory,” and even though he didn’t make that sweet, sweet starring role money in the early seasons, he still became a major part of the show, even appearing as a main cast member in some later seasons. “It was such a great way to pull him back into the tent because he made the series better. He was a gift to us on our show, and it’s strange how things worked out,” Lorre concluded. “We would have never gotten to Simon had ABC not blocked Kevin.”
As wild as this situation no doubt was when it happened, it continued to unfold in real time in the pages of Radloff’s book; apparently Sussman never told Helberg about the near-miss casting, and the actor only found out about the “Ugly Betty” roadblock during interviews for the oral history project a few years ago. You can check out “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series” for the whole story.
