11 actors who were almost in “The Big Bang Theory”

Before they cast Kaley Cuoco in her breakout role as Penny, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ co-creators eyed several other iconic actresses for the part

NEED TO KNOW

• The Big Bang Theory originally featured a darker female lead named Katie before being reworked into the bubbly Penny
• Several big names, including Marisa Tomei and Macaulay Culkin, were considered for roles but passed on the series
• Despite seeing other actors for the role, casting directors said once Jim Parsons read for Sheldon, they “knew” it would go to him

The Big Bang Theory helped launch the careers of its stars: Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.

But before landing on the perfect ensemble, co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady considered several other actors for the roles of Penny, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj.

The hit sitcom — which premiered in September 2007 and ran for 12 seasons — revolved around four brilliant but socially awkward Caltech scientists whose isolated, geeky lives are upended when an outgoing, non-academic aspiring actress named Penny moves in across the hall. Initially, the show was centered around this core group of five navigating everyday life, friendships and romance, but as the characters grew, so did the cast, which eventually expanded to include Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.

However, before the series could get there, it had to first prove successful, which meant casting the original five characters was essential. Aside from their individual abilities to capture the characters, the cast had to work well as a group. In Jessica Radloff’s oral history book about the beloved sitcom, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, Galecki described their on-screen dynamic.

“Once Jim, Kaley, Kunal, Simon, and myself did that first table read together, it felt like all the planets aligned and all the puzzle pieces fell into place,” he said. “It was like playing music with a whole new band. It was really exciting.”

It’s undeniable that the show wouldn’t have been the same with a different cast, but who could have been in the series? Here’s everything to know about the actors who almost starred in The Big Bang Theory.

Penny

Jodi Lyn O’Keefe

She’s All That star Jodi Lyn O’Keefe was originally cast as The Big Bang Theory‘s female lead, who was originally named Katie before being rewritten to the Penny that fans have come to love — and who was ultimately played by Cuoco.

“O’Keefe was so good in the original pilot as Katie, but it was just a totally different character,” casting director Nikki Valko said in Radloff’s book. “[She] brought a darkness, which just didn’t work, so she was replaced after the table read.”

Prady agreed, calling her “just a terrific actress.” In fact, the co-creator loved her so much that he brought her back to play a prostitute later in the series.

O’Keefe went on to land roles in Prison Break (2007-2009) along with the hit CW series The Vampire Diaries (2014-2017).

Amanda Walsh

Following O’Keefe’s departure from the show, actress Amanda Walsh was cast as Katie in the first, unaired pilot of the series.

“She did a great job playing that character,” Prady said in a September 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly. However, test audiences didn’t agree, and actually found Katie to be too harsh. Because of that, they completely reworked the script and replaced Katie with the bubbly and bright Penny.

“[Walsh] was terrific in the role, but the role was misconceived,” Lorre told Entertainment Weekly. “It was our responsibility.”

After rewriting the character, Prady and Lorre had the chance to do a second pilot episode. Although Walsh wanted to come back for the new version of Penny, CBS asked the team to recast the female lead. While Lorre said that he told the network it was not a “casting problem” but rather a “writing” one, they ultimately passed on Walsh.

Walsh continued to pursue acting and went on to appear in several films, including Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) and Beauty & the Briefcase (2010). She also expanded her career to work behind-the-scenes as a writer for the show Schitt’s Creek.

Marisa Tomei

During the initial casting process, producers had several names in mind for the female lead, including Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei. In fact, she even read for the part with Parsons, who had already been cast as Sheldon in the series.

“I thought it was a great script, and that’s why we went so far as to check it out,” Tomei told Business Insider in October 2022. “It’s such an iconic kind of setup,” she said, referring to the show’s premise.

Ultimately, though, she passed on the part, telling the outlet that while she enjoyed the script, “it wasn’t really the right fit for me at the time.”

At the time, Tomei had already won an Academy Award for her performance in My Cousin Vinny. She went on to land more starring film roles, including in The Wrestler (2008), The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) and the Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).

Tara Reid

Another big name being considered was Tara Reid. As Prady told Radloff, the actress came in to read for Katie, the then-named female lead of the series.

Reid was already established in the industry thanks to her roles in The Big Lebowski (1998), American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001) and My Boss’s Daughter (2003). She has since gone on to star in the cult-classic movie franchise, Sharknado.

Elizabeth Berkley

Elizabeth Berkley was also up for the female lead role.

“She was terrific,” Prady told Radloff. However, he didn’t share any more information on her audition or why it ultimately didn’t work out.

At the time, the actress was already well-established in Hollywood due to her role in the series Saved by The Bell and the film Showgirls (1995). She went on to compete on season 17 of Dancing with the Stars and reprise her iconic role on Peacock’s Saved by The Bell reboot in 2020.

Leonard Hofstadter

Macaulay Culkin

Casting director Ken Miller told Radloff that the team pursued Macaulay Culkin to play Leonard in the first pilot. Lorre, especially, was keen to work with the star.

“There’s a special ethereal quality to [Culkin] that I thought might be great,” Lorre told Radloff.

According to Prady, they had “a terrific meeting” with the actor, before learning that he decided to pass on the project.

During an August 2018 interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Culkin admitted that the initial pitch didn’t appeal to him. “The pitch was, ‘Alright, these two astrophysicist nerds and a pretty girl lives with them. Yoinks!’ That was the pitch. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m cool, thanks,’ ” he said.

At the time, Culkin was already a household name due to his record-breaking success as a child star in films Home Alone (1990), My Girl (1991) and Richie Rich (1994). Following his early fame, the actor took a brief career hiatus in his teenage years to focus on living a normal life. Although he has continued to appear in select projects since then, Culkin considers himself in a perpetual state of semi-retirement.

John Ross Bowie

Fans of The Big Bang Theory will recognize John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke, a fellow Caltech physicist who acted as Sheldon’s frequent rival. Initially, however, the actor auditioned for a leading part.

“They were seeing pretty much every nerd in LA for the two main roles and I actually read for the part of Leonard,” Bowie told Tinseltown Talks (via The Spectrum) in October 2017. “When I found out Galecki got it, I was uncharacteristically not resentful! I didn’t know him, but was familiar with his work and felt he was a good match for the role.”

Although he didn’t get the gig, Lorre and Prady were so impressed with Bowie that they eventually created the recurring character of Kripke to bring him into the series.

Sheldon Cooper

DJ Qualls

Before Parsons was cast as Sheldon Cooper, DJ Qualls auditioned to play the lovable nerd.

“I studio-tested against Jim Parsons for that role. It came down to me and him,” the actor said in a February 2014 interview with TV Line. “He went before me. And I turned to Chuck Lorre afterward and I was like, ‘I’m not going to get this part. I can’t read.’ And he was like, ‘Oh no, you’re not going to get this part – but you have to read.’ ”

Despite not getting the leading role, Qualls did return to the series as a guest star in a season 1 episode. He also went on to appear in horror series Z Nation (2014-2018) and The Man in the High Castle (2015-2018).

Howard Wolowitz

Kevin Sussman

Fans of The Big Bang Theory will recognize Kevin Sussman from his recurring role as Stuart Bloom, the sweet, down-on-his-luck comic book store owner, but the actor originally auditioned for Leonard, and was more seriously up for the part of Howard Wolowitz.

“Kevin was wrong for the role [of Leonard], but I remember Chuck saying, ‘He’s right for something,’ ” co-executive producer Eddie Gorodetsky recalled to Radloff. “It was obvious. We knew he was a great comedic tool.”

So, they wrote the part of Wolowitz for Sussman, Prady told Radloff. “We loved him, especially after he came in and auditioned for Leonard in the first pilot,” he said.

Unfortunately, at the time Sussman was starring on the first season of Ugly Betty, and, despite the fact that his character arc had been completed, Prady said that ABC wouldn’t let the actor out of his contract.

“Looking back, Simon became that part in ways that are only him,” Prady said. “Simon became that character, while Stuart was a creation that only could have come from Kevin.”

Though he only had a recurring role in The Big Bang Theory, Sussman will now star in the Big Bang Theory spinoff series, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, which debuts on HBO Max on July 23.

Raj Koothrappali

Kal Penn

Before Nayyar was cast as Raj Koothrappali, producers were looking at Kal Penn for the role.

“I remember reading the script to Big Bang Theory and being like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, this is kind of stereotypical,’ ” Penn said in a February 2021 interview with The Covino & Rich Show. He went on to explain that, at the time, he was also focused on films rather than TV shows and didn’t want to commit to a series.

Ultimately, the actor turned down the role, but he did appear as a guest star on the show several times during the final season.

“I will say, Kunal Nayyar, who played that character, brought it to life in a way I just never would have been able to,” Penn said.

Amy Farrah Fowler

Kate Micucci

While Bialik ended up starring as Amy Farrah Fowler in the series, producers also considered Kate Micucci for the part.

“We thought she was terrific and really funny,” executive producer and showrunner Steve Molaro told Radloff. “Then Mayim came in, and aside from being awesome as well, Chuck loved that she actually had a PhD in neuroscience.”

Molaro said that it “could have gone either way” between the two actresses, but they ultimately chose Bialik due to the fact that she “could bring an authenticity to the science.”

Even though she didn’t land the role of Amy, Micucci did return to The Big Bang Theory as Lucy, Raj’s love interest in later seasons. She also went on to have a voice role in several TV series, including DuckTales and Steven Universe, and also appeared in the film When in Rome (2010).

Read the original article on People