Parsons, who played Sheldon on ‘The Big Bang Theory’, reprised the role for the spin-off’s final episode
Sheldon is taking over TikTok!
In the very first video shared by the official Young Sheldon TikTok account, posted on April 29, the show’s star, Iain Armitage, uses filters to “grow up” — and let’s just say, the results are pretty realistic.
Rather than actually use an aging filter on the app, 15-year-old Armitage — who has portrayed Sheldon Lee Cooper on Young Sheldon for seven seasons — is replaced on-camera by predecessor Jim Parsons, who portrayed the adult version of the character on The Big Bang Theory.
Seemingly filmed while Parsons, 51, was reprising his role as Sheldon for The Big Bang Theory spinoff’s final episode, the video begins with Armitage saying, “So, apparently there’s a new filter that shows you what you look like when you grow up.”
“And I don’t know how accurate it’s gonna be. Let me try it out,” he adds before covering the camera.
Then, Parsons appears — wearing a classic Sheldon ‘fit and haircut, of course — and examines his “grown up” self in the camera.
“I’m not sure about this,” he says, joking, “Oh, it changes your voice, too.” He adds, “Huh. I don’t like it.”
The caption of the video, which has amassed over 2.2 million likes, reads, “Yeah, we’re finally on TikTok bc we heard about these great filters…”
In the comments, fans rejoiced at seeing Parsons step back into Sheldon’s shoes, which he previously filled for 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019.
“The ‘I don’t like it’ is so Sheldon,” one top comment said while another read, “I kinda expected it and STILL got excited.”
Last month, Parsons opened up about appearing on Young Sheldon on Today (though he has narrated the series since its 2017 premiere, he has never appeared on-camera) calling it “very weird” but “also very beautiful.”
“Big Bang Theory was always a live show, and Young Sheldon is a single-camera show,” he said on the morning show. “And I got to do it with [costar Mayim Bialik] — we both played Sheldon and Amy in the series. And to do it in that situation, it was just different enough that it wasn’t creepy. Instead, it was really sweet.”
Added Parsons: “It felt like the nicest little coda to the whole experience, and I was grateful that they asked us to do it.”