Recurring guest star of The Big Bang Theory who auditioned for the role of Leonard

When it comes to “The Big Bang Theory,” there are a whole bunch of stories about the wild casting process. Although Simon Helberg eventually landed the lead role of Howard Wolowitz, Kevin Sussman almost booked him… and ended up playing comic book owner Stuart Bloom on the show anyway. Kunal Nayyar, who plays the role of Raj Koothrappali in the entire series. It was shot almost before filming beganand Kaley Cuoco replaced the show’s original heroine with her character, Penny. Johnny Galecki ended up playing Leonard Hofstadter throughout the 12th season (and 12 years) of the show, but before he came on board, John Ross Bowie auditioned for the role. Like Sussman, he ended up scoring a recurring role… with a twist.

In a 2017 interview with SpectrumBowie told the outlet that an act Leonard auditioned but understood why Galecki got it. “They were seeing almost every nerd in (Los Angeles) for the two lead roles and I actually read about the part of Leonard,” Bowie recalled. “When I found out that (Johnny) Galecki got the role, I was not unusually upset! I didn’t know him, but I was familiar with his work and felt he was right for the role.”

Here’s the twist: Creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were looking for a movie very A certain type of actor. “They were looking for a (recurring) ‘villain’ and Chuck remembered me,” Bowie said. “At first, I played the nerd bully character, but Chuck and Bill thought he must have some weakness, so Chuck suggested a speech impediment. I tried something subtle, but what came out was Elmer Fudd’s voice.”

The voice of the character who eventually became Barry Kripke – a plasma physicist and string theorist who works at Caltech with Leonard, Howard, Raj and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) came out of a seemingly simple suggestion, although he told Bowie’s The Spectrum that he thought… It was a lot, and Chuck Lorre really loved it. “Chuck laughed very specifically and started laughing,” Bowie recalled of his audition. “I started work the next day.”

Technically, Barry Kripke has a speech impediment known as “rhautism,” which is characterized by a person having trouble with the “R” sound (which is why Elmer Fudd from “Looney Tunes” was brought into the conversation, because he has the same problem). Bowie told The Spectrum, though, that he thinks Barry’s speech impediment is probably the least interesting thing about the character, because it doesn’t define who he is at all. “For all his flaws, Kripke is no loser and he’s incredibly smart, so I think there’s something underlying that strengthens the character,” Bowie said, even saying that Barry “wins more than he loses” regarding his rivalry with Sheldon.

Not only did John Ross help Bowie come up with Barry Kripke’s voice during the audition, he also helped come up with the entirety of Barry Kripke’s voice. a personality It changed a bit when Bowie came on board. In Jessica Radloff’s 2022 book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, Bowie told Radloff the same story he told The Spectrum — namely, that he auditioned to play Leonard, lost out to Johnny Galecki but got it, and then… He improvised a voice during the audition that sealed his fate (in a good way), but added a few details… including the fact that a famous “Star Trek” actor interrupted that audition.

After Chuck Lorre made Bill Brady laugh with his “Elmer Fudd” voice, Bowie recalled, “Then there was a knock on the door and someone poked their head in and said, ‘Chuck, there’s a phone call from Leonard Nimoy.'” Normally, if a f*cking audition was interrupted *king, feeling angry this time, I said, “Listen, we’ve only just met, but fortunately it didn’t affect Bowie’s audition at all – and the character changed a little to fit his cold reading.” And about half an hour later, I was… “I’m driving home and I get the call that I’m supposed to bring it to Warner Bros. the next day and they want to keep the letter,” Bowie recalled. “They also changed the character’s name to Barry because he seems more fun with a speech impediment.” Bowie went to work immediately, and the rest is history.

“The Big Bang Theory,” including Bowie’s best moments as Barry Kripke, is now streaming on Max.