Penny and Sheldon

A chat with Jim Parsons by Will Harris

Bullz eye

We’re going to go on record right now and say that Jim Parsons got the shaft at this year’s Emmy Awards. Not that Alec Baldwin isn’t great as Jack Donaghy on ’30 Rock,’ but in the end, he’s just another guy in a suit. As Dr. Sheldon Cooper, however, Parsons has taken a character that could’ve been just another comic book nerd and transformed him into a comedic force to be reckoned with, and he and his co-stars – Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar – have made ‘The Big Bang Theory’ one of the funniest shows on television. Bullz-Eye’s Will Harris chatted with Parsons back in 2008, then crossed paths with him again this summer during the Television Critics Association Awards and floated the idea of doing a phoner once Season Three of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ had kicked off in earnest, which Parsons assured him would be no problem whatsoever. Still, when the time came to set up the interview, Will decided to refresh Parsons’ memory of the evening by sending him a picture from that night. Fortunately, it worked like a charm.

Hi, Will!

Hey, Jim, how’s it going?

Very well. How are you doing? Good to talk to you again — and that was a nice picture you sent over! It would’ve been better without me in it [laughs] but it was still nice.

• Well, it pleases my wife to no end that she’s got a photo of you and her.*

Awwwwwww. Say hello to her.

I certainly will. So it sounds like you’ve been working hard on the set.

Yes, it’s a good time, but it does produce sweat, I’ll say that.

So what episode are you guys working on now?

We are — number-wise, we’re on number 12, and if I understand correctly, we’re going to do 24, so I guess that means we’re literally at the halfway point. Christine Baranski will be in this week’s episode, which is wonderful. Although she isn’t here right now, I think because she’s moonlighting with us. She’s having to finish out her day job, which I guess is ‘The Good Wife’ right now, so we’ll see her a little bit later. But I think she can handle a slightly abbreviated rehearsal schedule. She knows her way around the block. [Laughs]

Well, I’m actually glad that I’m getting to talk to you this week, as opposed to when we were originally supposed to speak, because now Sheldon has officially gotten to second base with Penny.

Oh, my God! You’re absolutely right!

And congratulations on that, by the way.

Oh, thank you, thank you. You know, unwittingly, without actually looking at it, Sheldon grabbed Penny’s boob. You’re right: second base. Wasn’t that a wonderful moment they thought of? I just thought it was absolutely fantastic. I mean, of all the way you can get a man hand’s on a woman’s flesh — that man’s hand on a woman’s flesh — they just never cease to amaze me, the writers, with the way they twist and turn him. [Laughs]

And the look on your face was classic.

[Laughs] With the eyes closed and all?

My wife and I also particularly enjoyed the episode because of the joke about the check engine light in Penny’s car, because ours has been on for about six months now.

You’re kidding me!

I am not.

You know, my car — the power locks have all quit working, so I can manually get in with a key, but only my door. So I can’t open any other door, and I’ve had to take a couple of friends a couple of places, and they’ve all had to crawl over the console. So I’m no better than Penny when it comes to that, though I guess it’s less unsafe, as long as I’m not driving over bridges.

You know, I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell to tell you this, but — you’re kind of a big time TV star. You can probably afford to hire someone to get that fixed.

I know, I probably could. It really is a time issue. And probably an intelligence issue. I’ll bet there’s a way I could get it taken care of. Like, I bet someone would pick it up. I’ll bet that, in this ideal world, I could probably even get a loaner car for that process. But I simply haven’t executed any of that.

Well, I’m sorry that you didn’t pick up the Emmy, but I do understand that you’re up for a People’s Choice Award.

I am! That’s very exciting.

Given that everyone I’ve talked to was excited that I was talking to you, I’m hoping that bodes well for you.

Oh, thank you! Yeah, well, I hope so. I voted myself, and I voted for myself, but I only voted once. I know that you can do it repeated times, but it kind of felt like bad karma to vote for myself more than once. But by the same token, I wasn’t going to vote for Alec Baldwin, so, y’know (trails off)

That’s admirable restraint on your part.

[Laughs] Thank you.

So I always enjoy the episodes where you team up with Penny, and I understand that, in addition to this week’s, there’s another one coming up where you teach her physics, or try to, anyway.

[Sighs] Yes. Oh, my God. What a valiant effort. That being said, I completely agree with you, as far as I have as much fun as humanly possible, I think, on this show when they have a heavy Penny and Sheldon episode. And that one — I think I enjoyed the teaching her science more than the hospital one that just aired, actually, although I enjoyed them both. But it was so fun to get to (pauses) Sheldon’s not a great teacher, as you can imagine. He doesn’t have the patience of Job, and he takes on the airs of being a teacher, but it just doesn’t come naturally, I don’t think, even though the information does. And to couple with that, as you can imagine, she’s just not a good student. She comes unprepared, she can’t stay on track, it flies over her head within the first two sentences. But it was so fun, in an “Educating Rita” kind of way.

I understand Kaley Cuoco refers to those episodes as being full of “Shenny moments.”

Yes, she does. She’s a quack. [Laughs]

I think my favorite episode this season was the one with Wil Wheaton.

Oh! How great was it to have him? That was so fun.

Many of my friends have taken to screaming “Wheaton!” at the top of their lungs, in an attempt to emulate you.

No! [Laughs] He seemed to be completely okay with the fact that his entire name became a mantra of vengeful hate. That didn’t seem to bother him. He was so fun to have on the set, and he was such a good guy, just in general, but what a wonderful foil for Sheldon. And it makes such sense, because as a person and as an actor — he was playing himself, though slightly different, obviously — of course Sheldon’s the angriest at this human who is so _un_hurtful. There’s nothing wrong with Wil Wheaton!

I can only hope that they signed him up for a sequel episode the second the reactions started coming in for that one.

I hope so, too, although they wouldn’t tell me if they did.

Yes, I’ve read that you always feel that you’re the last to know anything on the set.

We are the last to know! The entire cast! I mean, honest to God, if you didn’t have other actor friends telling you, “I went in to audition for somebody on your show,” it’d be a matter of waiting for a script and saying, “Oh, look who’s in this episode!”

So who’s been your favorite guest star to work with? Not to belittle any of them, of course.

Oh, no, I know, I know. I’m not afraid to answer the question as much as it really is hard. I mean, we have so many talented people, and it’s just (hesitates) Immediately, for me, I do — oh, God, they’re all so good, but this is a somewhat easier call: the grouping of three previous sitcom women who knew just the ropes so well, Sara Rue, Christine Baranski and Laurie Metcalf. They just took to it, and obviously they would. But they’re just so funny, too, and they’re just such good actors. They’re just so real, and they listen and they respond. But I guess I’ll have to be biased, and I’m going to go ahead and have to say Laurie, because she played my mother. I would never want — hopefully, Christine and Sara will never read your article.

I will do my best to keep it under wraps.

Yes, please do. Maybe you could set it up so that you have to enter a secret code to hear my answer. [Laughs] But, no, it really is hard, and I only give her that favoritism because she literally is playing my mother, so I guess that wins. I’ve said it before, though: the class of guest star we get on this show at times is so — it’s such a rewarding thing, you know? It just makes life so fun. It’s fun to inject new life into this show, anyway, but when you’re able to get someone who is so talented as an actor in general, it’s not only a coup for the show and the audience members, but for you as an actor, to get to work with them. It’s always a different dance when strong actors come in like that, because they bring their own thing, and you’re, like, “Wooooooo!” There’s nothing more fun than getting to respond to that, especially with a character that you’ve gotten to know more and more and more that you’re playing. You go, “Oh, this changes things.” Sheldon’s feelings for Christine Baranski’s character, I just love! He loves her! He thinks that is the best mother in the world, you know, that untouching, unfeeling, clinical — oh, my God, he is just tickled by her. And that’s so fun, because so few people do I get to respond that way to through him. He’s normally — maybe he’s been in amazement, like with George Smoot and people like that were on, but for the most part, he considers himself pretty much — I don’t want to say above other people, because I don’t think he’s a snooty man in that way, but he doesn’t have time for most people. So to have somebody like that character come on that he feels compels to engage with, that he can’t resist but to engage with, is very fun.

I’m still rooting for Leonard Nimoy to turn up on the show someday.

You and me both! I couldn’t agree more.

Your reaction when Penny gave Sheldon that Nimoy-autographed napkin…

What a wonderful thing they wrote. It was just unbelievable.

I think it’s still one of my favorite moments of all time. In fact, on a Spock-related note, I couldn’t help but notice that the goatee that you were sporting during the season premiere…

(cheerily) There you go.

…looked suspiciously like the one worn by Spock’s counterpart in “Mirror, Mirror.”

Yes, suspicious, indeed! [Laughs] No, you nailed it on the head: that’s exactly what it was.

I know that the other guys had some of their own facial hair working when they came back from the between-season hiatus, but you did not. Are you not a fan of the facial hair?

I’ll be honest: no, I’m not. Not for myself, I should say. It doesn’t bother me at all on other people. But I will say this: if I had a very dark, heavier beard that came in and could get some sort of five-o’clock shadow type thing, I’d actually be pro-facial hair for me, just because it’d be something new and different. But I don’t really get that. I just kind of look dirty. There’s no definitive “oh, look at that nice five-o’clock shadow.” It’s more “oh, he forgot to shave.” It just makes me look lazy. There’s nothing debonair about it. Did you watch the baseball playoffs at all?

Here and there.

Speaking of five-o’clock shadows, Andy Pettitte has the most sculpted five-o’clock shadow. I didn’t even think about it until I was talking to Simon (Helberg) when one of the games was on, but I said, “Andy Pettitte has the most definitive line on his five-o’clock shadow.” He said, “Yeah, I think that’s sculpted.”

Yeah, even baseball players need stylists.

I mean, of course they do, but it’s just so stupid. It’s amazing the level of things that come across my TV that don’t occur to me. Like, I still buy into commercials. I know realistically that they’re actors, but for some reason, as opposed to a movie or a TV show, where I go, “Whatever,” and I can kind of separate myself from them, commercials just suck me in so hard. I’ll be, like, “I’ll bet you’re right: I’ll bet that cereal is wonderful!”

Yeah, but they’re just not as sentimental as they used to be. In the ’70s, you’d be watching a commercial, and you’d be, like, “Aw, look at that: his grandma is so happy that he called her!”

You’re right. I remember they used to have — well, Kodak had some very tear-jerking commercials.

I think I asked you this question before, but it’s been a season since then: what’s your favorite of Sheldon’s quirks?

Hmmm. I don’t remember what I said before — which is good. (long pause) Oh, God, I guess — I like his cleanliness. It just came up again in a recent episode — well, it hasn’t aired yet, but I mention disinfecting the kitchen and bathroom in a very casual way, like, “That’s what I did then,” and just whatever. And it reminded me of that. I really like that, because… — I understand whereof that comes, you know, but I can’t do it. I’m a little too lazy myself. [Laughs] So I really admire his ability to go through on that quirk and actually disinfect the kitchen and disinfect the bathroom. How wonderful. I would love to have a Sheldon around the house to do that!

So when you heard that they were actually going to get Leonard and Penny together, were you skeptical, or did you just leave it the writers’ hands, since they’ve done such good work thus far?

I wasn’t skeptical, and there was a level of — well, of course, I did honestly feel that I could leave it in their hands, because I always like what they do, or I’m always entertained by it and I enjoy getting to play it and be a part of it. But I also actually kind of liked it, because — I guess the easy one to look at is that it’s like a Ross and Rachel. Or, for me, when I was younger, even like a ‘Moonlighting.’ And that’s fantastic to have that kind of riding along with that tension, but — I don’t think that was well suited for us, or even necessarily. And I was kind of excited that they were going to go ahead and say, “Let’s explore this.” And not in a date, and not in two dates, but — I was just discussing this with a friend of mine, because I really don’t know, and I was, like, “I wonder if they’re going to be together for all of Season Three.” I mean, like, will Season Three be kind of, like, “the season where Penny and Leonard were together the whole time”? Or will it go on longer? I don’t know. Or will they be breaking up soon? I think for the first few episodes of the season, every episode that came down, I looked at and wondered, “Is this when they’re going to break up?” And I’m only realizing as I say this to you that I don’t wonder that at all anymore. I’ve become so adjusted to the idea of them together, which brings me back to my point about what made me happy: I really like that they decided to play this kind of true to life. Two friends get together, and you’re, like, “Oh, that’s not going to work,” but then six months into it, one Friday night, you suddenly go, “Oh, my God, I’m completely used to them being together! I’m still not sure that it’s going to last, but I’m not thinking about it anymore.” And never mind the fact that, completely selfishly, it was one more intimate way to get Penny into Sheldon’s life, to irritate him just by her mere existence. “Irritate” may not be the right word, but just to, y’know, push a button and force him to deal with her. That’s one of her things, I think. She’s a force that must be dealt with.

You know, something in this past week’s episode that my wife noted: Sheldon peeked at Penny.

Yeah.

Should we take that as a hint that, possibly somewhere in the far future, Sheldon could have a girlfriend?

I think you can take that as a hint, but I’m afraid that it’s frustratingly open to interpretation. [Laughs] Looking at Sheldon’s sexuality is like trying to read into a Rothko painting. It’s just, like, “Do I see a line?” “No.” “No? Well, I see something.” You know? And I don’t know. Chuck (Lorre) always says — well, not always, but I’ve heard him say more than once, and I didn’t think of it this way, but he says, “What is this desire to force Sheldon into something to normalize him?” And I don’t think everybody’s thinking that way, let me say that first off, but I just thought it was an interesting take on it. As opposed to, “Why don’t we see what happens to this guy who has opted out?” And what I think is interesting about that is that, number one, I don’t think that people are necessarily ravenous to see Sheldon normalized or brought down to a level or something. I think that it’s very sweet, and I agree with people who think it would be. I want Sheldon to feel love, you know? [Laughs] I enjoy it in my life when I feel love, and I’d like him to. And I also think it will one day, fingers crossed, be a wonderful story arc. I would hope that, if that time ever comes, we’ll deal with it in the same way they’ve dealt with the Penny/Leonard thing. I mean, not the same exact relationship, obviously, but in that way of going where it’s not a big special episode or something. Or maybe there are a couple, but it’s more of finding a way getting through this, him finding his way into this. But as far as the thinking, I had the exact same thought you did, and that’s why I say it’s impossible to interpret, because I thought, “How interesting that he bothered to look!” But then I thought, “As a scientist, of course he’s going to look. It’s just one more body to see.”

It seems like a relationship would cause him to be torn between wondering the curiosity of “What would this be like for me?” and treating it like a scientific experiment.

I agree with you. I do. And I don’t — I don’t know if there’s any way around that. If we look at Sheldon as a real person for a second and pretend, I just think that — you know, I’ve always said he would have to be completely frying-pan-over-the-head-walloped to fall in love, and I stick by that, not so much in a comic value way, but — he does seem to have that nature, but, like Chuck says, that’s not what he’s choosing to do right now. He’s choosing to devote himself and his life in other ways, and he finds that he doesn’t have the time for that. So I do think he’d have to be hit by a wave of emotion, if you will, or desire in order to be forced into making that choice. But then you have who he is and his nature to look at things through that scientific lens. So — I don’t know. That’s the other exciting thing about it, because — what a special person it would take to devote themselves to Sheldon, and to accept him for what he was. Not that he’s a leper or something [laughs] but he can be so tiring to deal with, and if you were his intimate other, oh, my God, would you have to listen to more workings of his even deeper inner mind? Good criminey!

I know that you guys and your characters don’t necessarily cross paths that often when it comes to your tastes, but is there anything that you’ve discovered as a result of Sheldon being a fan?

Well, the problem is — okay, well, no, I’m not more into science or anything, and I haven’t really gotten more into comic books or games or anything. But if I have to be sincere about it, though, I think I’ve grown a greater appreciation for letting myself enjoy time alone. Because he enjoys it so much, you know? He not only enjoys it, but I think he prefers it. It’s easier for him to get things done when he’s alone. Other people get in the way. And it’s one of the things that I do kind of admire about him. Some people think he’s somewhat cut off from society, and I guess that’s not always great, but that ability to be content alone like that — I think that’s really nice. He’s really comfortable with himself in many ways, which is admirable.

There’s something I’ve never asked you about, even though it’s a stock question, but, what’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved? Because I’ve never really asked you about anything that you did prior to “Big Bang,” even though I know you obviously did do other things.

That didn’t get the love it deserved? I’ve certainly been in things that I wish had never been seen. I feel like this going to be (hesitates) Hmmm. It’s a funny question, and I’ll say this. Because the first thing I think of — I really thought it would be a play, first and foremost, but I had such a good time with almost every piece of theater that I’ve done that I have no regrets that things didn’t travel farther. They were what they were. So the first thing that I think of is a pilot that I did about a year or two — maybe two years — before I did “Big Bang.” It was for CBS, and it was with Jane Krakowski. It was kind of her vehicle, actually, and I enjoyed doing it so much. I played a supporting character – I was a bartender – and I just thought it went so well. Still, if I went back and looked at that pilot, I would think it was a successful pilot. And I think it actually came very close to getting picked up, from what I understand. We were, like, on the bubble ‘til up to the 12th hour. That, I thought, would’ve been a great series. It was about life in a restaurant, and — I don’t know. But with that being said, the caveat is that, while I think my feelings are honest about it not getting the love it deserved, it’s the living definition of everything happening for a reason. [Laughs] There it is, right there. So that’s why I don’t shed any tears for it: because I wouldn’t be here right now, with any likelihood, had it gotten picked up. And in many ways, this is the most exciting thing that I’ve ever gotten to be a part of. So anything that would’ve gotten in the way of this, I have to look back and say, “Well, I’m glad it didn’t!”

(Writer’s note: If you’re wondering, the pilot was called ‘Taste,’ and it also co-starred Rufus Sewell, late of CBS’s ‘Eleventh Hour,’ Richard Ruccalo of ‘Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place’ and ‘Rita Rocks,’ and Lola Glaudini of ‘Criminal Minds.’)

How have you been enjoying the talk show circuit? Because I’ve seen you on Craig Ferguson’s show, but I know you did ‘The Tonight Show’ recently.

I just got to do ‘Conan, and it was wonderful. I was scared to death of Conan, more than any of them, and I’m not kidding you. I’m always nervous going on any of them, because you never know what’s going to happen exactly — although they’ve all been nice. It’s not a matter of that. I don’t feel like anybody’s out to get me when I go out there. But you just don’t know what’s going to happen! Like, Letterman’s really intimidating, because — well, he’s Letterman! There’s this stoic, staid thing. But by the same token, you kind of know what to expect from him. And I don’t think this is as true for Conan as it was, because I think the format changed a little, and he’s on the new show now. It’s not the same show, it’s a different one, and I knew him mostly from when he was on later, and I just thought, “I don’t have a clue what to expect from him…and I mean physically! He may get up!” And Ferguson’s wont do that, too, but it’s different. It’s different! And, oh, my God, I was just, like, “What if I get something on me? I might leave there slimed or something!” But he was so nice. They are all, they really are, but I just found it funny about midway through the interview, thinking, “I can’t believe I was worried about this.” He just couldn’t have been better.

And last one: as you said, you guys are always the last to know, but is there anything about the upcoming episodes that you can speak to that we should be looking forward to?

Are you kidding? [Laughs] As far as I know, we’re going to make them. That’s about it. No, really, I don’t know anything. But we’re making a Christmas episode right now. And I thought we were too late. I thought that — well, I don’t know what I thought. I just thought we would’ve done a Christmas one by now. I guess I just wasn’t adding up the time in my head well enough.

All right, Jim, I think I’ve bent your ear long enough…

Oh, I’m so glad we got to talk!

As am I, absolutely. Good talking to you again, and if I don’t see you in January, then I’m sure I’ll see you in July.

Gorgeous. Thanks again. Bye!

Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory by Abbie Bernstein

Buzzy Multimedia

There is a theory, not entirely without basis in fact, that when actors become successful,they can quickly become fed up with giving interviews. More, when these actors have achieved their success through comedy, they can sometimes become downright cranky.

Jim Parsons is a living refutation of this concept. An Emmy nominee and Television Critics Association Award winner for his role as the intellectually brilliant but socially challenged Sheldon Cooper on CBS’s comedy hit The Big Bang Theory, Parsons is cheerful, candid and cordial at a party thrown by CBS for the Television Critics Association at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena.

Parsons grew up in Texas, where he worked extensively in theatre. “It’s funny,” he muses. “When I was in Houston doing theatre for very little to no money, I worked all the time. There was one play after another, rehearsing one during the day, performing another at night, and then when I turned professional, after school and all that stuff, you don’t work nearly as much, because you’re not working for free any more. And I missed working – it really is a muscle that has to keep going. And so I don’t feel that I’ve changed – I feel [that with the continuous work of a TV schedule] like I’ve gotten back to something.”

A CBS publicist comes by and asks if Parsons would like something to drink. Parsons requests a Diet Coke with a polite thank you. This is how success has changed him, he jokes. “I order people around to get me drinks now, that’s what’s changed. No – I have more money and I have had a job for longer than [previously]. I’m more comfortable at things like this [doing a succession of interviews] than I used to be, because until you do it a few times, it’s just a mystery until you get it done.”

Were events like this and Comic-Con what Parsons had in mind when he envisioned being a successful actor while back in Texas? Not exactly, he replies. “Not because it’s different, but because I don’t think I had a very vivid image of what [success] would be. It’s the same thing I feel about what will the future look like work-wise. I never go so far as to imagine – I only know that I will continue to try to keep working, and that’s always paid off really well for me. I’ve always been very fortunate that everything’s led to something – if not somewhat unexpected, it’s always been so good and healthy. So no, it’s not what I expected, but I don’t know what I expected.”

Sheldon has a rather distinctive personality. Did Parsons do any research to play him? “You know, I mostly keep it between the lines of the actual page, what they deliver. That being said – because so many people have asked – Sheldon has been my introduction into what Asperger’s is.” He is referring to Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that makes it difficult for people who have it to connect socially with others. “People kept asking, ‘Does he have Asperger’s?’ I said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And I asked the writers, ‘Does he have Asperger’s?’ ‘No.’ And then Johnny [Galecki, who plays Leonard] found this book by Augustin Burroughs’ brother, John Elder Robinson, Look Me in the Eye, and it’s about his life with Asperger’s. I was like, well, Sheldon may not have Asperger’s, but there are a lot of similar traits.”

Sometimes research can be difficult due to not knowing what to ask, Parsons points out, as when he got to meet a lot of science students at the California Institute of Technology, aka Caltech. “It was for TV Guide and they really wanted to get pictures at Caltech, and they wanted to get pictures of me with [the scientists] explaining or talking about apparatuses to me, and I mean, it’s the same way I feel about most of the science I look at – it’s so over my head, I wouldn’t know what to ask. I think I did ask a couple of questions like, ‘Why do you wear blue-colored gloves?’, which I don’t even remember the answer to now.”

As far as what Parsons tapped into in order to play Sheldon, he says, “As strange as this may sound, I really feel like I let the words bring it out of me. Literally, especially with preparing for the audition [and] for the first show, the struggle to learn the words – I did this on TV once, showing people – I put a pencil between my teeth to help with articulation, because sometimes the constructs of the sentences are such that it’s a full-muscle workout to get it out. But I have found that it really informs who [Sheldon] is. There is so much going on, he’s so busy inside his brain, so in a weird way, having to [use] my own muscles to get all those words out, because I do not have brain activity as quick as he does, that’s kind of my closest simulation to that ‘rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’ – that rapid-fire thing with those words.”

Parsons acknowledges that he has a few Sheldon-like traits in real life. “Here’s a good example that’s very recent. When I got the TCA trophy. I didn’t really get a chance to look at it until I was out of the ballroom.” The Television Critics Association award is translucent. “I thought, ‘This thing’s going to show fingerprints horribly.’ And I said that out loud, and a friend said to me, ‘Okay, Sheldon.’ I was like, ‘You’re right, you’re right.’ And it’s where I do overlap with him. And you know what it is? It’s always the same sort of thing – it’s a little obsession about something that really doesn’t matter in the larger scheme, but Sheldon does that, and everybody does that, to a degree. I’ve often said that. Sheldon doesn’t do anything that most people don’t do, but he does it to the nth degree on all of them. It’s just exaggerated. Which I guess is the essence of comedy.”

A bout of intense Christmas decorating in 2007 was perhaps more due to a desire to keep occupied during the uncertainty of the writers’ strike (which shut down series television, Big Bang Theory included, for three months) than Sheldon-like fixation. “I always grew up with a tree at Christmas, but I was never real big into doing any Christmas decorating on my own, until our first season. The writers’ strike hit right before Thanksgiving, and by December, I realized we were not going back to work any time in the foreseeable future and I frickin’ threw myself into Christmas that year. I mean, to a ridiculous degree. And I don’t think I’ll ever hit it that hardcore again, but I enjoyed myself so much getting all that ready, that when I have time now, I’ll make sure I get a tree again and do a little decorating.”

Other people seem to recognize Sheldon more than see themselves in him, Parsons notes. “I used to feel – and I still do, to a degree – almost everybody who says anything says that they know somebody like Sheldon and I’m not surprised by that, because number one, I think that Sheldon has many, many good traits – very intelligent, I don’t think he has a mean bone in his body. He can be snarky and self-centered and a little haughty, but he’s not mean. But he is so unaware of things that people who are getting through the world in an average way need to be aware of that there is a stupidity with his great intelligence. He’s socially ignorant and unaware. And I don’t think most people want to be that way, which I understand,” he laughs, “but for the same reason, I feel like anybody who was very similar to Sheldon may not be able to see it. I don’t think they would identify with it.”

At the time of the interview, Parsons is the only male member of the Big Bang cast not sporting massive facial hair, the result of the characters spending three months in the Arctic. “I probably selectively heard this, but I heard, ‘Don’t cut your hair,’” Parsons explains. “I didn’t hear [‘don’t shave’]. And then everybody else was all bushy-faced and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And they said, ‘We’re not supposed to shave.’ When I found this out, it was two days before we were supposed to announce the Emmy nominations and I was like, ‘I’m shaving for that. I’m going on national television, I really don’t want to look like …’ But the other thing too is that all of them grow honest-to-God beards. I just look filthy. I don’t care that it wouldn’t look pretty – it’s not even a full beard. It’s like – it’s shameful. So [Big Bang co-creator/executive producer] Chuck [Lorre] told me that if they decided to go with facial hair for me, they would build something [in the hair and makeup department], they would make something work.”

Parsons is hugely enthusiastic about his costars, both regular and guest actors. He cites Christine Baranski, who plays Leonard’s mother. “She’s incredible. We’ve been so lucky with some of the people we’ve worked with. Laurie Metcalf was the same way. They’re actor’s actors. They’re so smart about their acting, they’re so willing to play and they’re so good and therefore they’re confident, and they’re confident, so they’re good. You know what I mean? There’s that willingness and ability to just go, just try, and it’s like a good sparring partner. Everybody in the cast is. I say, though, just out of nowhere, the most surprising – not because I thought she wouldn’t be, but [Kaley Cuoco as Penny] – I have had more fun doing those little dances with Kaley! I didn’t know her that well before. I had worked with Johnny on the pilot – I just didn’t know about her. And what a wonderful treat that’s turned out to be, what a wonderful comedy partner. Chuck [Lorre] told us the first few episodes that the character would grow, but I think that that’s the one who’s really come into her own. I don’t think anybody would say anything different. In the second season, especially, no one grew more than Penny. She’s been fantastic. I mean, that’s one of the joys of doing an episodic [series] like this, is that continual working relationship with the writers. You never know exactly who’s gleaning what from who and it just keeps moving. The growth of her character is really in the end a testament to both [Cuoco and the writers] – them for listening to her, and her for inspiring them to make it grow. Because you can tell it’s happening. They start hearing what’s going to sound good coming out of somebody’s mouth. ‘I bet she can handle this’ and sure as hell, she can. She had one moment specifically where she’s fighting with the new neighbor, the girl. [Penny] says something about how the guys don’t have shields.

And [the neighbor says], ‘What?’ And she says, ‘In STAR TREK, when the shields come up – where the hell did that come from?’ It was such an honest moment. I had chills when I retold it, because I can just see it. It’s so genuine.”

In real life, comic books are not Parsons’ area of expertise. “I probably shouldn’t admit this, but we have a local morning radio host who has been a friend of mine. If you’re looking for something to download, try geekshowpodcast.com. But what kills me is, I’m there to be the TV guy. We had the whole discussion about, is it the Green Lantern in yellow before [a similar discussion] was on [BIG BANG]. And I’m sitting there going … I learned [about Green Lantern] from being on this podcast. It’s all Greek to me. It’s as foreign to me as the science is, at first blush. I have no idea what I’m talking about. I mean, a lot of the [comic book] characters I’ve seen or heard of, and they’re all over the set for reference and what have you. But it is very foreign to me.”

When did Parsons realize The Big Bang Theory was connecting with its audience? “I would say, obviously, once we were picked up for the rest of the first season and then the second season, all that, those are good signs that something is working. But really, viscerally, the first thing that I had ever felt that I could tell something had changed for us was towards the end of the first season. The live audience started coming in and laughing before the joke was delivered. And it was really weird at first. Not completely unpleasant, but it was weird. It was only completely pleasant when we all talked about it and realized what was happening – that they knew the characters and they knew what was coming. And I should have realized – oh, my God, it’s the essence of television is, you want to tune in. It’s like your friends, it’s like your own family. I always say, you know how your mother’s going to react to blah-blah-blah, you know how Uncle So-and-So is going to react to whatever. And that’s what I think a lot of times, at least, we want to see from our characters on TV. It’s not a movie, it’s not a play, it’s every week. And that was the first thing where I felt, ‘I feel I’m a part of something now that I didn’t even know about before.’”

The growth of the characters has been gradual, Parsons observes. “Chuck [Lorre] and [fellow co-creator/executive producer] Bill [Prady] always say that, ‘Oh, they’ll change – but it’ll be the slowest, most painful growth you’ve ever watched in your life.’ Much like real life, frankly.”

Parsons says at some point he’d like to play a non-genius. “I would love at some point, next summer or something, to do diametrically opposed [to Sheldon. The character doesn’t] need to be stupid, but I would love the chance to play something, next hiatus, maybe, that was more average.”

Is there anything else Parsons wants to say about Sheldon and/or The Big Bang Theory?: “I just love getting to do it and as long as we get to keep doing it, I’m going to be very happy, I think.”

Emmy-nominated actor Jim Parsons' acting roots start in Houston by Andrew Dansby

Houston Chronicle

BURBANK, CALIF. — The cameras aren’t rolling on the set of TV’s The Big Bang Theory. Actor Jim Parsons sits on a couch, in his character Sheldon Cooper’s spot, lost in thought.

This day has entailed mostly rehearsals and camera set-ups for the season’s third episode. The pace has been impressive: a bar scene, followed by a kitchen scene, followed by a couch scene as the production moves from one set to another. Big Bang’s apartment building on the Warner Bros. lot seems Picasso-esque, with the cubed sets lined up one next to another rather than laid out as they’d be in a real structure. Parsons is thinking over a tweak to the script just suggested by series creator Chuck Lorre.

The show begins its third season with reason for enthusiasm. A few years after some thought the traditional sitcom was dying, The Big Bang Theory shows great promise. Its audience has grown over the past two years, and CBS has ordered not just a third but also a fourth season. The show now occupies a desirable time slot after hit comedy Two and a Half Men. And Parsons is also nominated for best comedy actor at tonight’s Emmy show.

Parsons is part of a lovable ensemble that gives life to intriguing characters in a simple premise. He plays Sheldon Cooper, a physicist. He and his physicist roommate Leonard (Johnny Galecki) have a nerdy social circle that includes another physicist and an engineer. Comfort zones are nudged to different degrees when they become friends with Sheldon and Leonard’s neighbor Penny, a waitress played by Kaley Cuoco.

Veteran director Mark Cendrowski keeps a loose set on Big Bang. Each scene is assigned a letter. When a scene is called for set up, crew members play a little game, shouting out 1980s music acts that start with that letter.

Scene A is called. ABBA is the first name shouted and gets a tepid response. Somebody tries Adam Ant and gets cheers. Cuoco tries Aerosmith, a sweet, funny choice in line with the fact she was born in 1985. Boos ensue from crew members who remember the ’70s.

Amid the play, Parsons is figuring out some of the complex rhythms required of his character, who must rattle off line after line of tightly composed, rhythmic dialogue, and then do something with his face or body during the silence that follows. The night after these rehearsals, those silences will be filled with laughter from a studio audience.

“When he listens he’s in character, when he walks he’s in character, when he sits down he’s in character,” Lorre says. “It involves a great deal of thought. And his instincts are uncanny. You can’t teach that. It’s wonderful to be near it and watch it.”

Later, when asked if he thinks acting was an inevitable thing for him to do, Parsons immediately answers, “Yes.” He pauses a moment, as Sheldon might, but rather than waiting for laughter, he’s composing a story. Parsons speaks fluidly like somebody who spends his time studying words, without fractured sentences.

He tells about how his mother kept a little scrapbook that listed things like his favorite colors and what he wanted to do when he grew up. “From a very early age, I said ‘movie star,’” he says. “I couldn’t have known what that meant, as far as fame — that didn’t make sense to me. But I knew I wanted to act. There were brief bleeps like teacher and meteorologist, but (acting) was there from day one. Why? I have no idea. I was given plenty of attention as a child.”

Parsons, 36, knew the role of Sheldon was a bazinga moment. He was living in New York, having established a strong theater background in Houston, where he was a founding member of the Infernal Bridegroom theater company as well as a Stages Repertory Theatre regular. In New York he found theater work and spot roles on TV, though the process was sometimes disappointing for the little-known actor: He’d audition for 15 to 30 pilots per season. Sometimes he’d not get the role, sometimes he would, then the show wouldn’t get picked up.

Parsons was instantly drawn to the rhythms of Sheldon’s speech. “I felt very strongly about the structure of it and the way they laid out the character and the way he talked,” he says. “It was a one-in-a-million match.”

Parsons’ and Sheldon’s pitch and cadences overlap a bit, but it’s clear Parsons is embodying a character. That said, his transformation looks effortless. He chews up the bigger words and longer sentences, nearly singing them as Sheldon. But a physical aspect to his work suggests silent film stars like Buster Keaton. He does several takes of a slightly sinister Pavlovian scene involving Cuoco’s character and chocolate. Each time he gently manipulates his slowly spreading Grinch-like grin to different effect.

Jason Nodler, the artistic director for Houston’s The Catastrophic Theatre, was, like Parsons, a founding member of Infernal Bridegroom. Nodler, a fan of Big Bang Theory, says, “I recognize every move Jim makes on that show. It’s just a natural part of his physical vocabulary. He’s a naturally gifted physical comedian.”

The show has five strong characters at its center, and their interaction is crucial to its success. But Parsons’ work earned him the Emmy nomination.

He’s quick to deflect credit. Of the physical aspect of his character, he says it was there from the pilot episode, when Penny sits in his spot on the couch. “It’s like when he’s searching for his seat, some of his lines will be his movement.”

As for the chewy dialogue, he says, “I love having to ferret out that rhythm that’s within there. But I wouldn’t pat myself on the back too hard, the writers make it very evident.

“But it was really a thing that moved me, more than the story, when I read the pilot.”

Parsons thinks his Houston background — the breadth and pace of his work here — is integral in his success.

It started poorly. After graduating from Klein Oak High School, Parsons attended University of Houston, where a classmate urged him to audition for a production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Parsons was deeply intrigued by the material, but says he wasn’t quite comfortable with the work. He missed a few rehearsals and had a meeting with the director. “I just wasn’t at peace with it,” he says. “And it’s no picnic putting Endgame on. It’s a great joy, but also a little rough-edged.”

Once the production was complete, though, he threw himself into acting, doing 17 plays in three years, everything from works by Bertolt Brecht to Guys and Dolls.

He recalls doing children’s theater during the day, rehearsing during the afternoons and doing plays like Georg Büchner’s murderous 19th-century play Woyzeck at night.

“I didn’t have a life,” he says. “I thought I did.

“But I had those opportunities at IBP and U of H. Houston was a great environment. Texas is a funny place in general. It’s not even like two sides of a coin, it’s more like a hexagonal Dungeons and Dragons die. People make a lot of assumptions about it, but it was fulfilling and nurturing to work there.

“There’s no learning like the doing. When you’re doing that many different types of things on that many types of stages, you don’t know the effect it has while you’re doing it. On one level, it made it hard to throw me. I’ve done it. I guess I haven’t performed on a sinking Titanic … but I’m young yet.”

Nodler says much of the work they did together at IBP was “awfully dark.”

“But there was always some comic element. Jim always did a beautiful job. Even when something was dark, he was always funny. He can’t help but be funny.”

Parsons left Houston in 1999, though he still gets back often to see friends and family. He attended grad school in San Diego and eventually moved to New York, where he quickly found work off Broadway.

There were small TV parts and also a well-known Quiznos commercial where — when asked if he were raised by wolves — he was nuzzling and suckling with some wolf pups.

Then came Sheldon.

Lorre knew Parsons understood the character on his first audition. “We knew we were witnessing something astonishing,” he says. Lorre was so impressed he asked Parsons to return to make sure his audition wasn’t a fluke.

“He’s a force of nature. He really is that good.”

Acting can be an art, but, not surprisingly for a guy who plays a physicist, Parsons sees the math in it.

“Muddied comedy isn’t comedy,” he says. “Well, that may not be true for all comedy, but overall I feel there’s this tremendous amount of precise work that goes into lining all the pieces so you can have what appears to be the chaos of it. To put it in the basest terms, you can’t really fall down. You have to plan for it.”

On the surface, Big Bang Theory is a traditional sitcom. It has multiple cameras. It’s written with breaks for the audience’s laughter.

But it’s a different traditional sitcom, which has likely endeared it to its viewers. The science squad possesses greater numerical aptitude than your average viewer, but their interactions — immediate and their code-like subtexts — all ring true, like a geeky variation of Rock Paper Scissors that includes lizards and Spock (who gets disproved by paper).

Sometimes Sheldon’s jokes are full of heady language written with rhythm and purpose.

“I’m a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know,” Penny says in one episode.

“Yes,” Sheldon replies. “It tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun’s apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality.”

Other times the lines are more efficient. When he asks what to order in a restaurant he gets a cliche in response. Everything’s good. “Statistically unlikely,” he quips.

Parsons points out that when studying theater, people are taught that theatrical events come about from ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

“This is the reverse,” he says. “It’s putting extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances.”

Penny is a portal and also an agitator. Her interactions with Leonard feel familiar to anyone involved in a sort of young urban tribe. Outside relationships threaten its fabric.

Over two seasons the show courted a growing audience with its characters.

Parsons, in particular, has drawn much attention. Last month he won a comedy award from the Television Critics Association, which also honored the show. At tonight’s Emmys, Parsons and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement are the newcomers in a best-actor field that includes Alec Baldwin, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Carell and Charlie Sheen.

Parsons talks about it with Sheldon’s jittery manner, only the mix of excitement, restraint and wonder isn’t in tune with his character’s numerical precision.

“I still feel this certain sensation that it’s happening to somebody else,” he says. “But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exciting. I’m already nervous about being there, which is goofy; there’s not much expected of me. I just walk in and sit down. But there’s no script available. Just to go there and be there.”

He pauses a beat as Sheldon might.

“My mother was excited.”

Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons: Grilled by Kathy Lyford

The wrap

When CBS debuted “The Big Bang Theory” in fall 2007, Jim Parsons, who plays neurotic genius Sheldon Cooper, emerged as a breakout star.

The show survived its strike-shortened first campaign and returned for a second season that was so strong the network gave the show a pickup for seasons three, which bows Monday, Sept. 21, and four.

Parsons is Emmy-nominated for the first time this year. He chatted with TheWrap about being on a hit sitcom in today’s fickle TV day-and-age, the role Comic-Con plays in its success and, yes, budget cuts.

“The Big Bang Theory” had an interesting path to ratings success. You bowed in the strike-shortened fall ’07 season and the ratings were good. But you were on the bubble and the pickup for a second season wasn’t guaranteed. Yet, when you came back for season two last fall, the show really caught fire.

I think the material we are presenting is truly funny (thank you, writers) and that we portray characters who are not only fallible (and therefore relatable), but they have also developed into characters with depth and traits that an audience can rely on, week after week. We have been treated very well by both the network (CBS) and the studio (WB), and, at the end of the day, we’ve also been lucky.

You guys have been a huge hit at Comic-Con the last two summers. Strange place for a sitcom to catch fire, but it seems like the right audience.

I don’t think any of us were sure that we would be an appropriate fit at the convention when we first heard we’d be attending but the fans of the show have been simply terrific. They ask the smartest questions and seem so genuinely pleased to talk with us, as we are with them.

As an actor, have you noticed the effects of budget cuts that everyone in TV is going through right now?

No, I have not. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Maybe I was memorizing unfamiliar science terms while they took away square footage in my dressing room?

What’s been the biggest surprise and the biggest disappointment to come with fame?

There have been no disappointments for me, as far as this show and my life with it have been, and I say that in all sincerity. I am getting to work at the job of my dreams (certainly one of many versions of that dream that I’ve had) and that makes me, at a level, continually happy. As far as surprises go, getting a two season pick up from CBS kind of floored me — I just had not been aware of that ever happening; certainly not lately.

People are in love with your character and transfer that to you, don’t they?

I think Sheldon’s saving grace, as a character, is that he truly means no harm even when he offends someone or says something that make others feel awkward.

He is a scientist and, in order to get to the truth you must have all the facts and deal with them.

The other actors keep Sheldon grounded in reality: their reactions to him are honest and usually tinged with love and, I think, when the audience has the chance to view Sheldon through those other characters eyes, they have the chance to love him too.

If you weren’t on “Big Bang Theory,” what current show would you like to be on?

I would love to be on “Friday Night Lights.” I don’t have a specific pitch for a role that I’ve had in mind, but that’s a damn fine show with some damn fine acting on it. Bravo. I am also from Texas and think they’ve captured something about it perfectly.

Facebook or Twitter have certainly changed things for everyone. Is your show “into” that?

I believe there is a “fan page” for me on Facebook, but I do not have control over it. As for Twitter, I was a member for about three days. I read other people’s Twitter postings and they were so funny and creative and I realized that I was incapable of contributing in that way.

All I had to offer was a listing of what I was up to and I decided that I didn’t want everyone to know everything I was doing — especially since ALL of it centered around what meal I was having or would soon have. How boring. And embarrassing.

Do you have any aspirations to write or direct?

I have aspirations to write and direct. I think. Really, though, I am still having so much fun acting and I still feel like I learn something new with such frequency that I have devoted almost no time to any other career choice in the industry. I really think I will at some point.

You announced the Emmy nominations with Chandra Wilson and you both were nominated. Can you describe what it felt like to find out you were nominated while you were there on stage?

It felt like a lie — like it wasn’t really happening. It felt like I was doing a play or something with Chandra. It was only after I got home and watched us on DVR that I really felt like it was official.

How does it feel to be a fashion icon? Have you visited Sheldonshirts.com?

I would not know how it feels to be a fashion icon as, I swear, I am not one. However, Mary Quigley, who happens to be a producer of our show in addition to the costume designer, would, I imagine, feel flattered. She could make a couple extra bucks on the side…just sayin’.

Parsons adjusts to celebrity role by Jeanne Jakle

San Antonio Express-News

PASADENA, Calif. — It’s a thrilling time for Houston native Jim Parsons, who has gone from relative obscurity to being a toast of the town.

Parsons, who plays network TV’s most lovable nerd on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, is up for an Emmy next month for lead actor in a comedy series.

“That’s crazy,” Parsons said of the nod.

He also seemed flabbergasted when, this past weekend, he won the Television Critics Association award for individual achievement in comedy, beating such well-known actors as Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Neil Patrick Harris.

You’ve missed a treat if you haven’t seen Parsons’ amusing portrayal as socially awkward physicist Sheldon Cooper. But Parsons is anything but socially inept in person; he’s warm and accommodating.

He also appreciates his fans. “I’m lucky to be on a show with nice ones…honest, very sweet.”

Fame has come only recently, he said, adding that he stayed in Houston — attending the University of Houston and doing theater — until his mid-20s. He remains close to his family and visits every summer. He is particularly excited about becoming an uncle for the second time.

He also loves his Hollywood family — the cast of Big Bang.

“They are so sweet and supportive,” he said. “The day the Emmys came out, they all came over.”

As for his character, Parsons said he was never cool growing up, either.

“I wasn’t smart enough,” he added about his years at Klein Oak High. “I’m more doddering and old mannish than a nerd or a geek.”

What’s next for Sheldon — romance, perhaps? “That’s the eternal hope,” he said, but added: “Sheldon’s got a lot he’s working on and is very focused. I bet you if he has a romantic encounter, it is so far away.”

Parsons can’t wait to return to work. “They don’t tell us anything except that we couldn’t get haircuts,” he said, reminding me where the season’s finale left him and his friends: in the Arctic for three months.