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In 2019, The Big Bang Theory wrapped up after 12 seasons. The show wasn’t canceled by its network, though. Jim Parsons, who played Sheldon Cooper, had simply decided to quit.
Mayim Bialik, who played his love interest Amy Farrah Fowler, said that there were “a lot of factors that the public doesn’t get to know about.” Kaley Cuoco (Penny) also said that she was “in a state of shock” following the news.
Later on, sitcom king Chuck Lorre said that he considered continuing the series without the Spoiler Alert star. “It’s the tank in Tiananmen Square. I’m not the guy to stand in front of it. Proceed,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
“If they wanted to keep going, I would’ve said ‘God bless,'” he continued. “It’s hundreds of people that are making a living on this show. You don’t want to stop that. Considering the extraordinary success and the economic nature, I didn’t want to step in front of it. It gets bigger than you and you’ve just got to get out of the way.”
What’s interesting is that Parsons kept doing the spinoff, Young Sheldon even after his exit from the main series. Here’s the real story behind his major career decision.
Why Did Jim Parsons Quit The Big Bang Theory?
In a 2020 interview on the David Tennant Does a Podcast With, Parsons said that he had a “suspicion in my heart” that seasons 11 and 12 would be his final contract with TBBT. “It was a complicated road, as you can imagine,” he shared at that time, adding that it was a “very intense summer” between the seasons that made him realize he wanted to quit.
“I had a contract with Intel and so I’d scheduled that. I was exhausted,” he said of his hectic work schedule at that time. It didn’t help that his 14-year-old dog with his husband Todd Spiewak was also dealing with health issues. “I’ll never forget that walk around the park to let him go to the bathroom before we went to the commercial shoot,” he tearfully remembered.
“He just looked so bad and I was so tired and Todd was like, ‘We’ve got to go. We’ve scheduled this. They fit everything around your schedule.’ And I just started crying,” he continued. “It makes me upset now. I was like, ‘This dog’s gonna die while I’m off working. I feel so bad.'”
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After deciding to euthanize their dog, he had to go through six more Broadway performances which really wore him down. After a Saturday matinee, he broke his foot which “scared” him as well. “I had this moment of clarity — that I think you’re very fortunate to get in a lot of ways — of going, ‘Don’t keep speeding by… Use this time to take a look around,'” he recalled. “And I did. I was like, ‘I gotta make a move.’
Why Did Jim Parsons Keep Starring In Young Sheldon After Big Bang Theory?
Over at Reddit, a fan asked: “Has the cast ever said their thoughts on being blindsided by Jim Parson quitting the show but continuing Young Sheldon?” One provided a likely answer, saying: “I always just assumed Young Sheldon was a much less intensive filming process than BBT. No live audience, since he’s just doing voiceover (and consulting) likely way less rehearsal.”
The cast never discussed anything about that question. However, they expressed feeling “blindsided” by Parsons’ exit. “I just disagreed with how it was handled,” said Johnny Galecki who played Leonard Hofstadter. “We thought we were going into [co-creator] Chuck [Lorre]’s office to talk about renegotiating, and then Chuck tossed the baton to Jim. And Jim was shocked and obviously caught off guard.”
Producer Steven Molaro even said that Cuoco “could barely make eye contact with Jim during the run-through, but they got through it.” He clarified that the cast cut through the tension soon enough. “Pretty quickly I saw Kaley and Jim talking between scenes and laughing,” he recounted. “They seemed to be able to be around each other and not just want to get into their cars and leave immediately afterwards.”
What Is Jim Parsons Doing Now?
Aside from reprising his role in voiceover form on Young Sheldon, Parsons went on to star in Ryan Murphy’s limited Netflix series, Hollywood, as well as the 2020 drama, The Boys in the Band. He also produced several projects, like Bialik’s Call Me Kat. But to this day, he still credits TBBT for all his recent accomplishments, including the ones behind the camera.
“It was definitely The Big Bang that got me to a place where I could even think of starting a production company,” he told Parade in December 2022, “but I honestly didn’t know when we started the production company that I wanted it to be about making work for myself. That was kind of an evolution.”
