Why didn’t Wil Wheaton want to play on The Big Bang Theory?

For 12 seasons, over 12 years, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ had a plethora of guest stars — in fact, the list of ‘Star Trek’ veterans alone is quite long. One such “Star Trek” favorite is Wil Wheaton, who first appeared as “himself” (more on that distinction soon) in Season 3 to romantically terrorize Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). This long-running arc on the show, which lasted until the final season, almost didn’t happen — because Wheaton was completely against the show and the idea of ​​appearing on it.

In Jessica Radloff’s 2022 book “The Big Bang Theory: The definitive inside story of the epic hit seriesWheaton and series co-creator Bill Prady revealed completely It’s hard to get Wheaton on the show, but not only has he appeared in almost every season (only skipping the first two installments and Season 10), he has become a mainstay of the sitcom.

“I was actually against the show when I first heard about it,” Wheaton admitted. “I thought it would be like making fun of people like me — lifelong nerds. When someone in entertainment wants to do something about our culture, nerds are likely to be the butt of the joke. So I wasn’t too impressed with that one.” Fortunately, Wheaton eventually gave the show a chance but said he was “disappointed” in himself for pre-judging it and not being fair to the creators. “I became a huge fan and tweeted about how much I loved it, when (executive producer) Steve Molaro saw that tweet and invited me to the shoot,” he explained.

In the end, convincing 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 Brady’s assistant saying he’d like to have a conversation with me,” Wheaton recalls. “And forever bless Bill, he talked to me like I was someone he cared deeply about and knew nothing about his show. He was so sweet.” After saying that he previously worked with Two producers who were terrible (Wheaton called them “d*cks,” to be very specific.) Assuming that most of the producers were downright awful, Wheaton went on to say that he and Brady became lifelong friends as a result of the call. “Bill and I are very good friends now,” Wheaton said. “But I got on the phone with Bill, and he said he wanted me to come on the show and play a version of myself.”

“He wasn’t sure about playing his part in the show…which is unusual,” Brady explained. “You become an actor so you don’t have to play yourself. You become an actor so you can be other people.” However, the team was determined to trap Wheaton, who actually happened to live near Pasadena (where the series is set) and, as Steve Molaro apparently told Bill Brady, could be a regular patron of the comic book store that Sheldon and his buddies frequent. Buddies, so Brady had to convince him. Getting Wetton to “play himself” was clearly the main issue.

“I felt like playing myself was cheating… and it wasn’t something I earned,” Wil Wheaton told Jessica Radloff in the book. “Or it would be a one-off where someone would say, ‘Hey, look, it’s the kid from Star Trek,’ and then it would be over. And I didn’t want that.” Wetton really liked the show at that point, so he practically begged Brady to let him audition for one of the characters. He understood that, but in the end he told him, “No actor likes to play himself, but you’re the only actor who can play Wil Wheaton.”

Brady offered to let Wheaton consider playing him and also let Wheaton see if there were any non-Wheaton roles that might work, but apparently, someone from a completely different franchise ended up influencing Wheaton in the end. This person? Wetton’s friend, John Rogers, is known for creating shows like “Leverage” and “The Librarians.” Regarding his conversation with Rogers, Wheaton recalls that he was initially quiet before Rogers attacked him for foolishly passing up the opportunity to appear on the most popular television show currently airing. He apparently yelled at him to “get on the phone with Bill Brady and tell him you’re going to do what he wants you to do or we’re not friends,” so Wheaton did just that.

For his part, Brady was extremely grateful…and not only that, he figured out a way to make Wheaton happy to start. “Yes, he did, thank God,” Brady said of Rogers’ “advice” before saying he was nervous to tell Wheaton about the approach he took to filming him. “I remember being terrified when I called him too and said, ‘We made your character evil,’ but man, he was so happy about it! And he said, ‘Oh my God, this is the greatest thing ever!’” I gave him a character to play — “Evil Wil Wheaton.” “And then the character evolved over time and eventually became friends with men, but I liked that he was okay with that.”

As Bill Brady correctly says in Jessica Radloff’s book, Wil Wheaton He does He started out basically playing “Evil Wil Wheaton,” but in Season 5, he and Sheldon finally made peace and he became friends with the entire gang. (He still comically antagonizes Sheldon quite often, which is really funny.) It’s hard to imagine the show without Wheaton shows up almost every season to hang out with the characters, and Wheaton seems to feel the same way.

In May of 2019, When “The Big Bang Theory” Season 12 Ended “Stockholm Syndrome” Wetton posted on Instagram to commemorate his time on the series (the post has now been deleted but is dated Digital Spy). After saying he watched the final recording of the series live, Wheaton said: “I think it’s fair to say that if I built the tripod of my career, the main legs would be ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘The Big bang theory. It kind of blows my mind to say that, and it’s amazing to me that I’ve got all of these things in my life, when just (one of them) would be more than anyone could ever hope for. Or her autobiography.

Wheaton was not only Grateful to be a part of The Big Bang Theory, but he went on to say that he believes it saved his career and helped him stay afloat as a performer during a time when he was struggling a bit in the industry. “Mainstream Hollywood doesn’t seem particularly interested in me and what I bring to productions these days,” he continued. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to do anything to change it, but I can confidently say that I’m probably pursuing an on-camera acting career today because of ‘Big Bang Theory,’ and anything I do in front of the camera for the rest of my career will rest on the shoulders of the work.” Which I have been privileged and honored to perform over the past decade.”

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