Why Wil Wheaton didn’t want to deal with the Big Bang Theory

During its 12-season, 12-year run There were a lot of guest stars on “The Big Bang Theory” – the list of “Star Trek” veterans alone is actually quite long. One of those Star Trek favorites happens to be Wil Wheaton, who first appears in Season 3 as “himself” (more on that distinction shortly) to emotionally terrorize Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). This long-running story arc in the series, which continued until the final season, almost didn’t happen – because Wheaton was completely against the series and the idea of ​​appearing in it.

In Jessica Radloff’s 2022 book “The Big Bang Theory: The definitive inside story of the epic hit series“Wheaton and series co-creator Bill Prady announced that this was the case quite It was a struggle to get Wheaton on the show, but not only did he appear in almost every season (I only skipped the first two episodes and the tenth season), but he also became a mainstay of the sitcom.

“I was actually really against the show when I first heard about it,” Wheaton admitted. “I thought it was about making fun of people like me – lifelong nerds. Whenever someone in the entertainment industry wants to do something against our culture, the nerds are most likely the butt of the joke. So I was absolutely not thrilled with it.” Luckily, Wheaton eventually gave the show a chance, but said he was “disappointed” in himself for prejudging the series and being unfair to the creators. “I became a big fan and tweeted about how much I loved it when (executive producer) Steve Molaro saw that tweet and invited me to set,” he explained.

Ultimately, getting Wil Wheaton to join The Big Bang Theory in literally any capacity was a challenge, and Bill Prady had to take matters into his own hands. “I got an email from Bill Prady’s assistant saying he’d like to have a conversation with me,” Wheaton recalls. “And God bless Bill forever, he spoke to me like I was someone he cared deeply about and knew nothing about his show. He was so nice.” After saying that he had previously worked with Two producers who were terrible people (Wheaton called them “d*cks” to be specific) and assuming that most producers were just as shitty, Wheaton went on to say that he and Prady became lifelong friends as a result of the call. “Bill and I are now extremely good friends,” Wheaton said. “But I spoke to Bill on the phone and he said he wanted me to come on the show and play a version of myself.”

“He was unsure about playing himself on the show… which is not unusual,” Prady clarified. “You become an actor so you don’t have to play yourself. You become an actor so you can be other people.” Still, the team was determined to book Wheaton, who happened to live near Pasadena (where the series is set) and, as Steve Molaro apparently told Bill Prady, may have been a regular at the The comic book store visited by Sheldon and him might be friends, so it was up to Prady to convince him. Apparently the whole point was to get Wheaton to “play himself.”

“I felt like playing myself was a betrayal… that I didn’t deserve this,” Wil Wheaton told Jessica Radloff in the book. “Or it should be an isolated incident where someone would say, ‘Hey, look, that’s the kid from Star Trek,’ and then it’s over. And I didn’t want that.” Wheaton really loved the show at this point, so he practically begged Prady to let him audition for a role. He understood, but ultimately told him, “No actor likes to play himself, but you’re the only actor who can play Wil Wheaton.”

Prady offered to let Wheaton think about playing himself, and also to let Wheaton know if there were any non-Wheaton roles that would work, but apparently someone from a completely different series ended up playing Wheaton influenced. This person? Wheaton’s friend John Rogers, known for creating shows like Leverage and The Librarians. Regarding his conversation with Rogers, Wheaton recalled that he was initially quiet before Rogers accused him of foolishly passing up the chance to appear on the most popular TV show currently airing. He apparently yelled at him to “call Bill Prady and tell him you’re going to do whatever he wants you to do or we’re not friends,” so Wheaton did just that.

Prady, for his part, was quite grateful… and not only that, he also found a way to make Wheaton happy beyond that. “Yes, he did, and thank God,” Prady said of Rogers’ “advice,” before saying he was nervous about telling Wheaton about the approach he took to his portrayal. “I remember being afraid to call him up too and say, ‘We made your character evil,’ but man, he was happy about it! He said, ‘Oh my God, this is the greatest thing ever!’ It gave him a character to play: “Evil Wil Wheaton.” And then the character developed over time and eventually became a friend of the boys, but I loved that he was okay with that.

As Bill Prady rightly says in Jessica Radloff’s book Wil Wheaton does At first he’s essentially playing “Evil Wil Wheaton,” but in Season 5 he and Sheldon finally make peace and he becomes friends with the whole gang. (He still playfully annoys Sheldon quite often, however, and it’s really funny.) It’s hard to imagine the show without Wheaton shows up in almost every season to spend time with the characters, and apparently Wheaton feels the same way.

In May 2019, when “The Big Bang Theory” ended with the season 12 finale “Stockholm Syndrome,” Wheaton posted on Instagram to commemorate his time on the series (the post is now deleted but was recorded). Digital spy). After Wheaton said he had seen the final taping of the show live, he said: “I think it’s fair to say that if I were to build a tripod out of my career, the main legs would be ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘Star.’ Trek’ and ‘The’ would be ‘Big Bang Theory.’ It kind of blows me away that I get to say that. It’s remarkable to me that I’ve been able to have all of these things in my life, if honestly (one of them) would be more than anyone could hope for on their or her resume.”

It wasn’t Wheaton Only I’m grateful to be a part of “The Big Bang Theory,” but went on to say that he believes it saved his career and helped him stay afloat as an artist while he was struggling a bit in the industry . “Mainstream Hollywood doesn’t seem to care much about me and what I bring to a production these days,” he continued. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know if there’s anything I can ever do to change this, but I can confidently say that because of ‘Big Bang Theory,’ I probably have a career as an actress in front of the camera today.” “And everything I do in front of the camera for the rest of my career will stand on the shoulders of the work I’ve had the privilege of performing over the last decade.”

“The Big Bang Theory,” including Wheaton’s 17 episodes, is now streaming on Max.