Kaley Cuoco can boast being one of television's highest paid actors
after appearing on The Big Bang Theory. Now starring on HBO's The Flight Attendant,
Cuoco has undergone quite the transformation. Here's how she's changed over the years.
Kaley Cuoco appeared on The Big Bang Theory for more than a decade. Her role as Penny
helped her make bank big time when she began earning a whopping $1 million per episode,
but her rise to fame actually began when she was just a kid.
Cuoco was born on November 30, 1985, and her parents were supportive of her various pursuits,
which included acting. As she told New York Post in 2017,
"There was no lightbulb moment where I moved to California and wanted to be an actress [...] It
happened as if I was born to do it. Which is so funny, because to this day, that’s how I feel."
Cuoco appeared alongside Denzel Washington in the 1995 movie Virtuosity, and she played
a younger version of Ellen DeGeneres' character on the sitcom Ellen in 1996. The following year,
Cuoco got to tell Jennifer Aniston how much she loved her while working on the romantic comedy
Picture Perfect. And now, Cuoco has since transformed into a star just like Aniston
thanks to her big break, as she landed her first major TV role just a few years later.
From 2002 to 2005, Kaley Cuoco played Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules.
The character was the popular teen girl stereotype: pretty,
ditzy, and obsessed with boys. Bridget also had a habit of baring her midriff
and a tendency to butt heads with her overprotective dad.
Bridget's father was played by Three's Company star John Ritter, who tragically died at age 54
after suddenly falling ill on the set of 8 Simple Rules in 2003.
Cuoco remembers her time with her TV father fondly, recalling how Ritter won her over when
he brought his dad act to their first table read. During a September 2018 appearance on
the REELZ series Behind Closed Doors, Cuoco said she was dressed like her character when
Ritter walked in and saw her skimpy outfit. He sternly told her to put a sweater on,
before removing a sweater from someone in the room for her to cover up with. As Cuoco explained,
"And he goes, 'Dress like that from now on.' [...] That was
my introduction to him. I was in love from that moment on."
During an April 2014 interview with Cosmopolitan,
Kaley Cuoco revealed that she got breast implants when she was 18 years old. While some celebrities
live to regret their plastic surgery procedures, Cuoco described going under the knife as,
"[The] best decision I ever made."
Cuoco elaborated on why she decided to get a breast augmentation
while speaking to Redbook in December 2014 and said,
"I had no boobs! And it really was the best thing ever! I always felt
ill-proportioned. My implants made me feel more confident in my body."
Plastic surgery comes with plenty of risks and can be a real career killer, but after giving her
self-confidence a boost, Cuoco went on to land the role of a lifetime on The Big Bang Theory.
One of Kaley Cuoco's biggest romances was one that she kept secret for years.
During a November 2020 episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast,
she recalled how she fell head over heels for Johnny Galecki, the man who played her
smitten scientist love interest Leonard on The Big Bang Theory. Cuoco explained,
"When we did the pilot, I was crushing so hard on Galecki, but he had a girlfriend."
Once Galecki was available, he and Cuoco dated for two years beginning in 2007.
Of the relationship, Cuoco told CBS Watch! Magazine in 2010,
"It was such a huge part of my life and no one knew about it [...] It was a wonderful
relationship but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together.
We were so protective of ourselves and the show and didn't want anything to ruin that."
Incredibly, the co-stars' friendship remained intact after their split.
During her 2014 Cosmopolitan interview, Kaley Cuoco got candid about her 2013 summer fling with
Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill. Their romance lasted just 10 days, but Cuoco revealed that
it had a lingering impact on her life. Some fans speculated that the romance was a publicity stunt,
but Cuoco seemed annoyed by the attention the romance received. As she told Cosmopolitan,
"I had no one following me until I met Superman. I've been in this business for 20 years,
and my whole life, I could go anywhere, do anything. There had not been one paparazzi
photo of me until like seven months ago. The recognition has been crazy."
"Wow, how many Superman movies are there?"
Mere weeks after she and Cavill called it quits, she jumped into
another headline-making relationship with professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting.
The couple wed on New Year's Eve in 2013, but divorced after only 21 months of marriage.
"I love hard and when it's over it's over. And some people make mistakes."
Kaley Cuoco got another shot at love in 2016. During a 2017 New York Post interview,
Cuoco recalled literally bumping into professional equestrian Karl Cook at a showjumping competition.
Later on, he approached Cuoco on a motorized bike
with a bottle of champagne in hand and asked her to dinner.
By November 2017, Cuoco and Cook were engaged. They fittingly held their June 30,
2018 wedding ceremony at a horse barn. In addition to sharing their love for horses,
the couple adores their pack of rescue dogs. Cuoco told Us Weekly in September 2017 that
Cook's fondness for canines helped him seal the deal, as she explained,
"'Must love dogs' is number one and he checked that off quite quickly and I fell very hard."
"We have so many dogs right now, and the funny thing is,
you have caught us at a moment when every single one of them is asleep."
Kaley Cuoco discovered her first major post-Big Bang Theory role by chance.
The actress was shopping on Amazon when she stumbled across the synopsis for
the novel The Flight Attendant. To make sure she landed the lead role,
Cuoco created her own production company and cast herself as Cassie, a flight attendant
who finds herself waking up in bed with a dead man and no recollection of how he got there.
Up next, Cuoco will portray Hollywood legend Doris Day in a limited series.
She's also going to be busy working on a new season of The Flight Attendant. Things
just keep looking up for the actor, and there seems to be no limit to how high she can fly.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebrities are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.