How have the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" been spending their days? You might be surprised to
find out which two stars have gone from physicists to supervillains.
Affectionately known as Meemaw in the show, Constance "Connie" Tucker is the grandmother
of Sheldon Cooper. A deeply protective and loving character, she was first introduced in 2016 in the
Season 9 episode "The Meemaw Materialization," in which she comes to visit her grandson to meet Amy.
This is her only on-screen appearance in the show, although a younger incarnation of the
character does return in "Young Sheldon," played by Annie Potts.
June Squibb is the actor responsible for portraying Meemaw in "The Big Bang Theory."
Prior to appearing in the series, her most famous role was probably in the 2013 film "Nebraska," a
performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
In recent years, she's voiced characters in Disney animated films such as "Toy
Story 4," and has continued to be a regular face on television as well,
with numerous guest appearances on shows like "Good Girls."
Melissa "Missy" Cooper, Sheldon's sister, is another important "Big Bang Theory" character
who has a very limited number of appearances in the show. Although she's mentioned many times,
she's only directly involved in two episodes. She's first introduced in the Season 1 episode
"The Porkchop Indeterminacy," in which she visits Sheldon,
but her next in-person appearance doesn't come until "The Bow Tie
Asymmetry" some 10 seasons later, before a small appearance at her brother's wedding.
Outside of "The Big Band Theory," actor Courtney Henggeler will be familiar to fans
of the Netflix series "Cobra Kai," in which she plays "Karate Kid" protagonist Daniel LaRusso's
wife Amanda. She's also had recent roles in films like Tyler Perry's romantic comedy
"Nobody's Fool," and on stage in productions such as 2023's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
"It's nuts! I don't know why I signed on for this! I love that I signed on for this, but
I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this right now.’ It’s nuts!"
Jerry O'Connell plays Sheldon's older brother George, who doesn't make his
debut in the sitcom until Season 11, first showing up in "The Sibling Realignment."
Despite making a success of his own business, Georgie expresses
resentment at the way Sheldon has treated his family, although the pair reconcile and the
character appears in the next episode when Sheldon marries Amy. Georgie later appears
in Season 12 during a webcam chat with Sheldon as they discuss a childhood friend named Tam.
Having begun his career at a young age, O'Connell had his first major film role
in 1986 in the Stephen King adaptation "Stand by Me." In his adult life, he has had roles in the
likes of "Jerry Maguire," and plays Steven Birch in "Billions." Since 2021, O'Connell has also been
one of the permanent co-hosts of the CBS daytime show "The Talk," having replaced Sharon Osbourne.
"I like to have a good time!"
Sara Gilbert's Leslie Winkle is a regular character through the
early seasons of "The Big Bang Theory," appearing for the first time in Season 1,
Episode 3. She appears throughout the second and third seasons before largely disappearing
from the show. A scientist at Caltech, she works with Leonard and dates both
him and Howard for short periods of time. She can often be seen using lab equipment
to cook her food and is friendly toward basically everyone except for Sheldon.
Gilbert is most famous as a regular on both "Roseanne" and its more recent spin-off "The
Conners," playing Darlene Conner-Healy. Her performance across the two shows has earned
her several Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She was one of the hosts of "The Talk" for
nearly a decade beginning in 2010, and had a role in the 2023 comedy movie "80 for Brady."
Mary Cooper, played by Laurie Metcalf in "The Big Bang Theory," is Sheldon's Mother. In total,
Mary appears in 14 episodes of the show, making her first appearance
in the fourth-ever episode. Despite being a loving and caring mother,
she is something of a religious fanatic and can be bigoted.
An experienced actor and comedian, Metcalf has been nominated for a plethora of awards throughout
her career, including Primetime Emmy Awards and an Academy Award for her role in "Lady Bird" in
2017. Perhaps best known for her performance as Jackie Harris in "Roseanne," she later reprised
the part for the spin-off series "The Conners." In 2022, Metcalf had an Emmy-winning guest
role in two episodes of "Hacks." And she also voices Andy's mom in the "Toy Story" franchise!
Laura Spencer's Emily Sweeney first appears in "The Friendship
Turbulence" as a woman who contacts Raj through an online dating site. Over the
course of the next few seasons, she appears in a total of 17 episodes,
dating Raj and then Gary. A self-confessed fan of horror films, she has a dark sense of humor
and prefers the original gruesome fairy tales to the modern, family-friendly Disney movies.
Spencer first gained fame after appearing in 34 episodes of the web series "The Lizzie
Bennet Diaries." She became a regular on television during her tenure on "The Big
Bang Theory," as she simultaneously portrayed intern Jessica Warren on "Bones." Her work has
seemingly been limited over the last few years, with the actor only appearing in a
single episode of "Reservation Dogs" and the disaster film "13 minutes" in 2021.
Stuart Bloom, played by actor Kevin Sussman, is a major character in "The
Big Bang Theory" and a constant presence starting from Season 2. He dates both Penny
and Amy at different points and is the owner of The Comic Center of Pasadena,
making him a friend to Sheldon and the rest of the main group.
Sussman has had a busy few years since "The Big Bang Theory" came
to an end. He had a two-episode role on the "Breaking Bad" spin-off "Better
Call Saul," playing a victim of one of the protagonist's scams.
That same year, in 2022, he also appeared in "The Dropout," playing a researcher at the
pharmaceutical company Theranos. The actor also appeared in a couple episodes of "Call
Me Kat" and will play Walter in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama series "Lessons in Chemistry."
Early on in "The Big Bang Theory," it appeared as if Sheldon would never find love. But then
came Amy Farrah Fowler, played by Mayim Bialik – his match in almost every sense. A neurobiologist,
she makes her debut in "The Lunar Excitation" in Season 3 and quickly becomes a regular.
Appearing in more than 200 episodes of the show, Amy has a strong relationship with
Sheldon from the very beginning, and the pair eventually marry during the Season 11 finale.
Bialik, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience in real life, was nominated for a series
of awards for her performance on the show and has been in high demand since.
"I actually was trained in calculus for several
years. Yeah, I'm a neuroscientist. So, you may not have known that."
She stars in the Fox sitcom "Call Me Kat," and following the death of Alex Trebek,
Bialik was announced as one of the new permanent hosts for the popular game show
"Jeopardy!" following a temporary stint behind the lectern. She also hosts her
own podcast, "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown," every Tuesday, in which she discusses mental health.
Bernadette is another main character from "The Big Bang Theory" who comes in a bit
later on. Played by Melissa Rauch, she makes her first appearance in the Season 3 episode
"The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary" and quickly begins a relationship with
Howard Wolowitz. She eventually achieves a Ph.D. and starts a family with Howard.
Rauch made her breakthrough with "The Big Bang Theory," but she has
continued to find success since the show ended. Her most notable role has been in
the NBC sitcom revival "Night Court," where she plays Judge Abby Stone. She
has also voiced a number of characters in various films and television series,
ranging from Harley Quinn in "Batman and Harley Quinn" to Bo's mom Beth in "Firebuds."
Raj is one of the five primary characters who are present from
the very beginning of "The Big Bang Theory." Played by Kunal Nayyar,
he's Howard's best friend and works at Caltech as an astrophysicist. Raj often finds himself
physically incapable of speaking to women, which causes him to struggle in establishing
meaningful relationships – except with Howard – despite the actor's good looks.
"Kunal I thought was the most handsome man." "Awww."
After the end of "The Big Bang Theory," Nayyar landed a number of roles. He's
provided the voice of Guy Diamond in the "Trolls" franchise since 2016,
and had a role in "Think Like a Dog" in 2020. He’s set to appear in the upcoming Netflix film
"Spaceman" ever since being announced as part of the cast in 2021. Nayyar also starred in
the 2022 film "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" as well as the Apple TV+ series "Suspicion."
Played by Johnny Galecki, Leonard is one of the central characters of "The Big Bang
Theory." Present in every single episode of the show, he's Sheldon's colleague, best friend,
and roommate. Despite being a geek, Leonard also demonstrates the most knowledge of social cues and
rarely struggles to fit in with more ordinary company. Throughout the run of the series,
he has a rocky relationship with Penny, although the two do eventually marry.
Galecki earned numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination,
for his performance in "The Big Bang Theory." However, he's also known for his work on the
sitcom "Roseanne" and its spin-off "The Conners." He hasn't done much on screen
lately outside of his appearances in "The Conners," but he has worked behind the
scenes as an executive producer on shows such as "Living Biblically" among others.
Sheldon Cooper was arguably the most popular character from "The Big Bang Theory," as
evidenced by the fact that actor Jim Parsons won numerous awards and the character got his
own spin-off show. Sheldon lives with Leonard and is an unashamed, intelligent nerd who consistently
shows a lack of understanding of basic human traits like humor and empathy. He also struggles
in his relationships until he meets Amy Farrah Fowler, who he eventually marries in Season 11.
Fans of "The Big Bang Theory" will know that Parsons has continued to be a part of the
fictional universe as the narrator of the show "Young Sheldon." Outside of his role as Sheldon,
the actor has appeared in the miniseries "Hollywood" as talent agent Henry Willson,
the 2022 romantic drama "Spoiler Alert" alongside Ben Aldridge,
and 2020's "The Boys in the Band." He's also worked as an executive producer on
a number of shows, including his former co-star Mayim Bialik's "Call Me Kat."
Penny is the sole female main character at the start of "The Big Bang Theory."
Played by Kaley Cuoco, Penny also stands out because she doesn't share the same genius-level
intellect as the four other original leads, although she makes up for this with a more
sophisticated emotional intelligence that ensures she's far more outgoing
and empathetic. By the end of the series, she marries Leonard, and the two move in together.
Cuoco has worked in a number of critically acclaimed series since
the conclusion of "The Big Bang Theory." In 2017, she founded Yes, Norman Productions,
through which she's produced and starred in the acclaimed HBO Max series "The Flight Attendant"
and "Harley Quinn." She has several other projects currently in the works at Yes,
Norman, including an upcoming film about the life of Doris Day.
Although he is part of the main group of characters on "The Big Bang Theory," Howard
is notable for the fact that he's actually an aerospace engineer rather than a scientist. Best
friends with Raj, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and works at Caltech with
the rest of the group. A fan of comic books and geek culture in general, Howard has a collection
of novelty belt buckles and little luck with women until he begins dating Bernadette.
Like many of his former co-stars, Simon Helberg has also had roles in several other projects in
the last few years. The actor had a supporting role in the musical film "Annette" and starred
in "As They Made Us," a movie written and directed by Mayim Bialik. Helberg
has also had parts in "Space Oddity" and Rian Johnson's crime drama series "Poker
Face," as well as voicing the Squirrel in the "Up" spin-off series "Dug Days."