Behind the Scenes of The Big Bang Theory -

Behind the Scenes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’

Dress Rehearsal
Director Mark Cendrowski works with Kunal Nayyar on a last-minute dialogue change during a scene in the penultimate episode of Season 5. "The late changes are always fun; sometimes I won't be part of a main story but I'll be in a scene and I'll be silent for two-thirds of the scene," Nayyar says. "I'll have to say something that's maybe one, two, three or four lines in a scene that I'm supposed to nail because it's the one joke in the scene and if you don't, you just feel like, 'I only had two jokes in the scene… .' Sometimes I put a lot more pressure on myself."
Costume Fan
Jim Parsons prepares for a scene in which Sheldon sports a pair of long johns — aka a union suit — to prevent the spread of the germs that (naturally!) lurk in rental tuxedos as the guys are fitted for Howard's wedding to Bernadette. "As an actor, I've always had a very distinctive relationship with costumes," Parsons says. "One of my favorite things in the world is costumes because they speak things that you don't need to speak. They change a character just by putting something on but what's great about them is they can have their own life."
‘The Overconfident Idiot’
Simon Helberg makes some last-minute adjustments to Howard's trademark 'do. "Howard has such a bravado and a false sense of his own strength and machismo," he says of his character's personal and professional feats this season. "It’s fun to watch him crumble. Playing the overconfident idiot is a trait in comedy that I've always loved and I think he is that and this is him being put to the test. He's finally got to put his money where his mouth is and he's terrified."
The Brain Trusts
Co-creators/executive producers Chuck Lorre, left, and Bill Prady fine-tune a scene between takes. “We don’t know all the physics stuff off the top of our heads, but we know where to look for it online: Wikipedia,”
Prady says with a laugh. On this day, Big Bang Theory science adviser Dr. David Saltzberg — an astrophysicist from UCLA — is absent from the set and at the Lucerne Super-Collider in Switzerland.
Parsons Channels The Flash
During a scene where the guys are being fitted for tuxedos, the writers added in a line of dialogue to reference Sheldon's favorite comic book character, The Flash, taking advantage of his red long johns. "The Flash rewrite was a really good example of when the writers come in with changes in a scene," Parsons explains. "It's an inspired choice. There is a certain level of inspiration that only strikes when the gun is to your head in a weird way. You feel that was an example from the writers, that wasn't a difficult joke to make but it couldn’t be made until it was in the moment because it was a reflection of the costume which they hadn't seen fully until then," Parsons says of the new line. "Just looking on camera, it's 'This would work perfectly here.' Those are truly the highlights of working in this medium."
A Fine Science
"We established a good shorthand early on that has helped carry out through the five years and made our days go quicker and shorter," says director Cendrowski, right, who has helmed nearly every episode of the CBS comedy. "Often times we have to do that with the producer schedule with Chuck [Lorre] having to do several shows, we often get a truncated rehearsal time and it's a cast that does their homework, they come in prepared with ideas, choices and that moves things along."
Nerd Style
Producer/wardrobe expert Mary Quigley notes that everyone on the series has their own distinct style. "That was the challenge originally: have this group of nerds that were friends and had a similar string but they all have their own personal style, not necessarily fashion sense," she says. "If you held up each one of their costumes on a hanger, you could identify a character." Among the items she's amassed: scores of belt buckles for Helberg's Howard, which are all stored in a special belt buckle holder on the back of a door to a wardrobe closet on the set.
Sheldon as Princess Leia?
Parsons says Sheldon's union suit, while completely out of the ordinary, have only one affect on him. "In a weird way, it didn't affect anything except, 'I need a bigger shirt,' " he says, noting that the long johns made for a long day on the set. "Two weeks ago I was in a French maid costume and that I talked them down from. They wanted to put me in the Princess Leia slave uniform in a bikini and I said, 'No, I'd need six months' warning and a personal trainer and it's not happening.' They were very sweet to me and said, 'OK, we didn't know what your boundaries were.' (Laughing.) Maybe Season 7 if we're around and I can prep for it."
Raj, the Playboy
"In Season 8, he's going to become a full-on playboy," Nayyar says with a laugh of Raj's potential trajectory. "He's realized that the entire group is moving on and up in the world in terms of love and relationships and he's the only one who's not. That's really beginning to get to him because he has to fill this void in his life. It was cute that he was lonely, but now it's actually sad that he's lonely. He's lost his best friend to a marriage. That's what he says, 'I'll always be the guy who gets a girl after Sheldon Cooper.' He's really trying to fill that void in his life and he's trying anything and everything to do it."
All Talk and Swagger
Following a season that saw Howard both tie the knot and travel to space, Helberg says Season 5 has been one of growth for his character. "This season, especially toward the end, I've gotten to have a lot more stuff to do and it's been very fun seeing him try to deal with NASA training," he says. "He's all talk and swagger so it's fun to watch him actually have to exert himself and confront intimidating people like Bernadette's father and see him cower."
The Tortured Roommate
Johnny Galecki, who picked up his first Emmy nomination in 2011 for his role as Sheldon's put-upon roommate, Leonard, says he enjoys the audience's changing feelings toward character's on-again, off-again relationship with Penny (Kaley Cuoco). "Earlier in the seasons it was pretty mixed, it was probably 50-50 as far as the audience wanting the relationship to continue, which I always loved," he notes. "If everyone in the room is in agreement, then you're doing something very safe and uninteresting and therefore not worth the time. I liked that clash of opinions on the relationship. It seemed to really turn in our favor when the characters broke up all the sudden and they wanted them back together. The majority was all the sudden in favor of the pairing. That's often what our reactions are after a failed relationship, then you understand the full value."
Modest Leader
"When we hear about a rating or beating Idol, we walk in and we think Chuck Lorre is going to say something," co-star Kaley Cuoco says modestly of the Thursday comedy's success this season in the coveted 18-49 demographic against Fox's reality powerhouse. "We wait all day and at the end of the day, Chuck or Bill [Prady] will say, 'So, did you hear about those ratings?' Really calmly and cool and it's like, 'Yeah! We did!' That's it, there's no celebrating. We get that one day and then the next day, that may not happen. We go day by day and we feel grateful we have seasons to keep going and the fans keep us going."
Time to Play
Cuoco says her time with the marker on the set has been a long time coming. "They'd never let me get near it and they really let me today!" she said during THR's set visit. "Usually I'm like, 'Let me do it, let me do it!' They never let me do it because it takes me forever and after 25 years in this business, I still don't know what I'm doing [with it]. I'm like, 'Cameras R, X, P, Double-O, with no clue.' But they let me play today, which was really cute. It's just an amazing group. Today was an easy day so they let me mess around a little bit."
Cuoco Between Takes
While not one to overly rehearse, Cuoco says she spends a lot of time attached to her Kindle between takes. "I'm in the middle of Game of Thrones right now," she says. "The guys try to talk to me while I'm reading and they don't get a response!"
… And That’s Why She’s Not a Director
From left: Second camera assistant Colin Brown hands off the marker to Cuoco for a romantic scene with
Galecki. “I’m the queen of not rehearsing,” Cuoco says. “The guys always joke that if I ever directed, we’d never rehearse and go home at 10:30 a.m. I think the guys would like me to direct because we wouldn't do anything. I'd say, 'Just learn your stuff and meet me back here Tuesday night and we'll shoot the show.' They don't need to rehearse, we're fine! It's a good group, we don't need five days of rehearsal and I keep trying to tell them that but no one is listening to me!"
Someone to Love
Melissa Rauch, who plays Howard's new bride, Bernadette, was a long-time fan of the series before she booked a guest stint that developed into a series regular role. "Howard started out like a ladies' man and it's been nice, as a fan of the show, to see," she says. "Simon is an amazing actor and is capable of so many different layers, it's been great to see this other side of Howard, that he's pretty much just a hopeless romantic in what we see now and the other seasons, even though he was looking to have love with a blow-up doll, hookers and who ever he was going after. What he essentially wanted was someone to love — other than his mother."
‘Not One Humorless Louse’
"It feels like I get to come here and play and have so much fun and get paid for it," Rauch says. "Simon was doing a scene in his rolling desk chair and did a spot-on Michael J. Fox impression from Family Ties, it was pretty fantastic. Simon can impersonate anyone. Everyone is really funny in their own way. There's not one humorless louse."
Plenty to See
Rauch works with director Cendrowski for a scene with Howard taking place in Wolowitz's bedroom. Asked if there's one artifact on the set that she'd like to swipe as a keepsake, Rauch's decision was an easy one. "Howard's leopard sheets are pretty amazing," she says. "My first time on this set, I was a fan and I got caught so many times between scenes walking around Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, there's so much to see I feel like I still haven't seen everything that's in there. Even the cereal boxes in there are interesting to me."
Secret Costume Pieces
Look closely in every scene and Howard will always sport an alien pin on his turtleneck. "That's always on his turtleneck; the color changes and it always matches his outfit," producer/wardrobe supervisor Mary Quigley says. "There's a secret reason why he wears it on every episode that nobody knows. He even wears turtlenecks when he's in his silk pajamas."
Setting Strong Desires
In addition to significant gains for Howard, Parsons' Sheldon has also grown personally with the addition of Mayim Bialik's Amy. While the show isn't mapped out with season-long arcs, EP Prady says giving characters strong desires helps them continue on a trajectory without being tied to a specific story. "If you give them a strong desire — and setting up a wedding is a very strong goal — it's hard to make it not happen unless you throw something horrible in the character's way, eventually they'll get to it. They might not get to it in the way they planned and that makes it fun. We will throw enough obstacles to make it funny and not what they were thinking of but not so many that it doesn't happen."
Doctor in the House
Mayim Bialik has a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA and enjoys seeing textbooks she used earning her degree lining the shelves of Leonard, Sheldon and Amy's bookshelves. "I'm often asked about medical things or neurological things," she says. "I don't like to meddle in other people's scenes, and I don't. But Bill Prady has said they made me a neurobiologist because they figured I could fix stuff. Sometimes there's anatomy stuff I'll specifically asked. They do great research. We have many with a very good knowledge of basic neuroscience but when it comes to speciality things, I sometimes will be asked what would be a more appropriate thing. In the episode where Sheldon had to be jealous of something, they came to me and asked, 'What's the top level for … " and I said, cover of neuron. That's it for neuroscientists. So those fun industry things I get to have a voice in."
Model Theory
While Helberg isn't a huge comic book fan, he — like Wolowitz — can appreciate some of the superhero models that line the shelves of Howard's bedroom. "When you see the models, some literally do look like supermodels, there are some lovely superhero supermodel oenes I've spent a little too long thinking about. There's a Supergirl that can not be for children, and if it is it's also for adults. That's the lowest I've sunk," he says with a laugh.
Cutting Through the ‘Sleaze’
Helberg, here on the set of Howard's bedroom with his on-screen bride, says adding Rauch to the cast has allowed the show to "cut through the layer of sleaze that may have been starting to build up on Howard." "You get to see him grow and learn how to become an adult and try to separate from his mother and become a sensitive, mature person who isn't just after sex and lust, who has to make compromise. It's fun to constantly watch him get it for a split-second and then put his foot in his mouth and have to work his way back into her good graces. She's got her own amazing talent that is independent of those story lines that you get to see her with the girls and it brings a lot more dimension to the women on the show," he notes.
Protecting Sheldon
Bialik says she's glad the writers have kept Parsons' Sheldon true to who he is while still bringing the character into unchartered waters with a romantic story line. "It stayed very true to who he needs to be and that's why [their relationship] has gone so slow," she says. "That's the protectiveness we all feel about Jim's character; we have to really guard it carefully even if we're talking about stuff that is so outside of his character's comfort zone."
‘Comfort Level’
"I've kissed Johnny so many times, he made it such a joke, 'You're getting better!' I just wanted to punch him in the face!" Cuoco says. "It's so fun, the audience loves it, especially when it's Leonard and Penny, they get excited and scream, it's cute. Johnny and I go back so long now, it's like kissing my brother, which is disgusting. But that comfort level is there."
Parsons’ ‘Favorite’ Addition
Parsons says the addition of Bialik's Amy stands out as his "favorite thing that's happened in the past year and a half of the show." "The introduction of Amy as a character has brought many possibilities for Sheldon. I enjoy working with Mayim and it would be my personal preference that she never be allowed to work with anybody else," he says with a laugh. "She should do all her scenes with me! That said, it wouldn't be good for her or the show and in the end it wouldn't be good for me but that's how much I enjoy playing those scenes with her in all their different and strange forms."