'The Big Bang Theory' cast recalls audition memories as show celebrates 200 episodes
The cast and crew of "The Big Bang Theory" celebrated the show's 200th episode Saturday night at Vibiana in Los Angeles, ahead of the CBS sitcom's on-screen celebration, as the milestone episode on Feb. 25 will center around Sheldon's birthday.
While "The Big Bang Theory" is in its ninth season — and is already renewed for Season 10 — the cast doesn't take the show for granted. In fact, they're still pinching themselves that they star on TV's #1 sitcom.
Check out snaps of the 'Big Bang Theory' cast:
"Every time I get a script, it's like Christmas morning," cast member Kunal Nayyar told Variety at the Saturday night event. "I love reading these scripts. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of 'Big Bang Theory' and I get to be in it. It's a dream."
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Even though the show debuted back in 2007, the ensemble still remembers their auditions for what would become one of the biggest sitcom successes in television history.
"I remember sitting next to Jim and I had never met him and I said, 'Hi I'm Kaley,'" star Kaley Cuoco recalls of meeting Jim Parsons during auditions. "He had a Blackberry that he couldn't get working. We were in the waiting room and he's like, 'This Blackberry is a new technology and I'm unsure.' And I remember thinking that guy would make a hilarious Sheldon. I had an inkling about that one."
But even a decade later, one thing Cuoco still doesn't have a clue about is science. "I have not learned one f—ing thing about science," she admitted. "I have no idea. Zero."
Aside from Cuoco, here's what else "The Big Bang Theory" cast shared with Variety about their auditions.
Jim Parsons: "I remember spending a lot of time memorizing because it was probably the wordiest audition I've ever gone in on. Any humor was not going to be funny if I was struggling with these words, many of which I didn't know and weren't easy to say."
Melissa Rauch: "I was unemployed. I had just been at the unemployment office a few days before my audition. It was some dark, dark times a few days before I got the audition."
Mayim Bialik: "I had never seen 'The Big Bang Theory.' I knew it was a big deal because my manager told me like try and get this part. I was super excited just because I was looking to be a working actress again. That was pretty much all I knew of the show — is that it was really big."
(Fun fact: Bialik admitted she still hasn't watched those episodes that she hadn't seen, prior to her audition. "No, I don't have TV, so I don't really watch," she said.)
Simon Helberg: "I know I wasn't going to audition originally, which was a brilliant choice that I made. I was working on another television show so I thought, 'Oh you know, I'll ride out the show that I'm on.' I heard Chuck [Lorre] laugh almost a couple lines in and he has a very distinct laugh, which has become the source of all validation in my life. And I've gotten to hear that laugh thousands of times since when I do my job right. He looked at me in a certain way and I remember he said at the end of my audition, 'Well, actor goes home knowing he killed.' That's what he said. And I thought it was so funny and so kind of odd. It was like he couldn't help but reveal his hand to me, but was also complimenting me. And I left thinking, 'I guess I killed.'"
