Why Wil Wheaton Didn’t Want To Play Himself On The Big Bang Theory

All through its 12-season, 12-year run, “The Big Bang Theory” featured a ton of guest stars — just the list of “Star Trek” veterans alone is pretty long, in fact. A kind of “Star Trek” favorites simply so occurs to be Wil Wheaton, who first reveals up as “himself” (extra on that distinction shortly) in season 3 to emotionally terrorize Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). This long-running arc on the present, which continued by means of the ultimate season, virtually did not occur — as a result of Wheaton was completely in opposition to the present and the concept of showing on it.

In Jessica Radloff’s 2022 guide “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series,” Wheaton and the collection’ co-creator Invoice Prady revealed that it was fairly a trouble to get Wheaton on the present, however not solely did he seem in almost each season (simply skipping the primary two installments and season 10), he turned a mainstay of the sitcom.

“I used to be truly actually in opposition to the present once I first heard about it,” Wheaton admitted. “I believed it was going to be making enjoyable of individuals like me — lifelong nerds. At any time when any individual in leisure needs to do one thing about our tradition, odds are the nerds are going to be the butt of the joke. So I used to be tremendous not into it.” Luckily, Wheaton ultimately gave the present an opportunity however stated he was “disillusioned” in himself for pre-judging it and being unfair to the creators. “I turned a large fan and tweeted about how a lot I cherished it, when [executive producer] Steve Molaro noticed that tweet and invited me to set,” he defined.

Finally, getting Wil Wheaton to affix “The Large Bang Concept” in actually any capability was a problem, and Invoice Prady needed to take issues into his personal fingers. “I acquired an electronic mail from Invoice Prady’s assistant saying he’d like to have a dialog with me,” Wheaton recalled. “And bless Invoice ceaselessly, he talked to me like I used to be an individual he deeply cared about who knew nothing about his present. He was so sort.” After saying that he beforehand labored with two producers who were awful people (Wheaton known as them “d*cks,” to be super-specific) and assumed most producers have been simply as crappy, Wheaton went on to say that he and Prady turned lifelong buddies because of the decision. “Invoice and I are terribly good buddies now,” Wheaton stated. “However I acquired on the cellphone with Invoice, and he stated he needed me to return on the present and play a model of myself.”

“He was uncertain about enjoying himself within the present … which isn’t uncommon,” Prady clarified. “You turn out to be an actor so you do not have to play your self. You turn out to be an actor so that you will be different individuals.” Nonetheless, the crew was decided to guide Wheaton, who occurred to really stay close to Pasadena (the place the collection is about) and, as Steve Molaro apparently instructed Invoice Prady, might conceivably be an everyday patron of the comedian guide store frequented by Sheldon and his buddies, so it was all the way down to Prady to persuade him. Apparently, getting Wheaton to “play himself” was the primary problem.

“I felt enjoying myself was dishonest … that it isn’t one thing I’ve earned,” Wil Wheaton instructed Jessica Radloff within the guide. “Or it was going to be a one-off the place somebody would say, ‘Hey, look, it is the child from Star Trek,’ after which it is over. And I did not need that.” Wheaton actually cherished the present at that time, so he virtually begged Prady to let him audition for a personality. He understood, however finally instructed him, “No actor likes to play themselves, however you’re the solely actor who can play Wil Wheaton.'”

Prady supplied to let Wheaton take into consideration enjoying himself and likewise let Wheaton know if any non-Wheaton roles got here up that will work, however apparently, an individual from a very completely different collection ended up swaying Wheaton in the long run. That individual? Wheaton’s good friend John Rogers, identified for creating reveals like “Leverage” and “The Librarians.” Relating to his dialog with Rogers, Wheaton recalled, that he was quiet at first earlier than Rogers laid into him for foolishly passing up the prospect to be on the preferred TV present presently airing. He apparently yelled at him to “get on the cellphone to Invoice Prady and inform him you’ll do no matter he needs you to do or we’re not buddies,” so Wheaton did precisely that.

For his half, Prady was fairly grateful … and never solely that, however he found out a technique to make Wheaton comfortable in addition. “Sure, he did, and thank goodness,” Prady stated of Rogers’ “recommendation” earlier than saying he was nervous to inform Wheaton concerning the strategy he took to his portrayal. “I keep in mind being terrified to additionally name him and say, ‘We made your character evil,’ however man, he was comfortable about it! He went, ‘Oh my god, that is the best factor ever!’ It gave him a personality to play — ‘Evil Wil Wheaton.’ After which the character developed over time and finally turned a good friend of the fellows, however I cherished that he was okay with that.”

As Invoice Prady appropriately says in Jessica Radloff’s guide, Wil Wheaton does begin out principally enjoying “Evil Wil Wheaton,” however in season 5, he and Sheldon lastly make peace and he turns into buddies with the entire gang. (He nonetheless playfully antagonizes Sheldon fairly usually, although, and it is actually humorous.) It is robust to think about the present with out Wheaton displaying up in nearly each season to hold with the characters, and apparently, Wheaton feels the identical manner.

In Might of 2019, when “The Big Bang Theory” concluded with its season 12 finale “The Stockholm Syndrome,” Wheaton posted on Instagram to commemorate his time on the collection (the put up is now deleted however was chronicled on Digital Spy). After saying he watched the present’s ultimate taping stay, Wheaton stated, “I believe it is truthful to say that if I constructed a tripod out of my profession, the primary legs can be ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘Star Trek,’ and ‘The Large Bang Concept.’ It sort of blows me away that I get to say that. It’s outstanding to me that I’ve gotten to have all of this stuff in my life, when actually simply [one[ of them would be more than anyone could hope for on his or her resume.”

Wheaton wasn’t just grateful to be a part of “The Big Bang Theory,” but went on to say that he thinks 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 to be especially interested in me and what I bring to a production these days,” he continued. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do anything to change that, but I can confidently say that I probably have an on-camera acting career today because of ‘Big Bang Theory,’ and anything I do on camera for the rest of my career will stand on the shoulders of the work I’ve had the privilege and honor to perform over the last decade.”

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

All through its 12-season, 12-year run, “The Big Bang Theory” featured a ton of guest stars — just the list of “Star Trek” veterans alone is pretty long, in fact. A kind of “Star Trek” favorites simply so occurs to be Wil Wheaton, who first reveals up as “himself” (extra on that distinction shortly) in season 3 to emotionally terrorize Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). This long-running arc on the present, which continued by means of the ultimate season, virtually did not occur — as a result of Wheaton was completely in opposition to the present and the concept of showing on it.

In Jessica Radloff’s 2022 guide “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series,” Wheaton and the collection’ co-creator Invoice Prady revealed that it was fairly a trouble to get Wheaton on the present, however not solely did he seem in almost each season (simply skipping the primary two installments and season 10), he turned a mainstay of the sitcom.

“I used to be truly actually in opposition to the present once I first heard about it,” Wheaton admitted. “I believed it was going to be making enjoyable of individuals like me — lifelong nerds. At any time when any individual in leisure needs to do one thing about our tradition, odds are the nerds are going to be the butt of the joke. So I used to be tremendous not into it.” Luckily, Wheaton ultimately gave the present an opportunity however stated he was “disillusioned” in himself for pre-judging it and being unfair to the creators. “I turned a large fan and tweeted about how a lot I cherished it, when [executive producer] Steve Molaro noticed that tweet and invited me to set,” he defined.

Finally, getting Wil Wheaton to affix “The Large Bang Concept” in actually any capability was a problem, and Invoice Prady needed to take issues into his personal fingers. “I acquired an electronic mail from Invoice Prady’s assistant saying he’d like to have a dialog with me,” Wheaton recalled. “And bless Invoice ceaselessly, he talked to me like I used to be an individual he deeply cared about who knew nothing about his present. He was so sort.” After saying that he beforehand labored with two producers who were awful people (Wheaton known as them “d*cks,” to be super-specific) and assumed most producers have been simply as crappy, Wheaton went on to say that he and Prady turned lifelong buddies because of the decision. “Invoice and I are terribly good buddies now,” Wheaton stated. “However I acquired on the cellphone with Invoice, and he stated he needed me to return on the present and play a model of myself.”

“He was uncertain about enjoying himself within the present … which isn’t uncommon,” Prady clarified. “You turn out to be an actor so you do not have to play your self. You turn out to be an actor so that you will be different individuals.” Nonetheless, the crew was decided to guide Wheaton, who occurred to really stay close to Pasadena (the place the collection is about) and, as Steve Molaro apparently instructed Invoice Prady, might conceivably be an everyday patron of the comedian guide store frequented by Sheldon and his buddies, so it was all the way down to Prady to persuade him. Apparently, getting Wheaton to “play himself” was the primary problem.

“I felt enjoying myself was dishonest … that it isn’t one thing I’ve earned,” Wil Wheaton instructed Jessica Radloff within the guide. “Or it was going to be a one-off the place somebody would say, ‘Hey, look, it is the child from Star Trek,’ after which it is over. And I did not need that.” Wheaton actually cherished the present at that time, so he virtually begged Prady to let him audition for a personality. He understood, however finally instructed him, “No actor likes to play themselves, however you’re the solely actor who can play Wil Wheaton.'”

Prady supplied to let Wheaton take into consideration enjoying himself and likewise let Wheaton know if any non-Wheaton roles got here up that will work, however apparently, an individual from a very completely different collection ended up swaying Wheaton in the long run. That individual? Wheaton’s good friend John Rogers, identified for creating reveals like “Leverage” and “The Librarians.” Relating to his dialog with Rogers, Wheaton recalled, that he was quiet at first earlier than Rogers laid into him for foolishly passing up the prospect to be on the preferred TV present presently airing. He apparently yelled at him to “get on the cellphone to Invoice Prady and inform him you’ll do no matter he needs you to do or we’re not buddies,” so Wheaton did precisely that.

For his half, Prady was fairly grateful … and never solely that, however he found out a technique to make Wheaton comfortable in addition. “Sure, he did, and thank goodness,” Prady stated of Rogers’ “recommendation” earlier than saying he was nervous to inform Wheaton concerning the strategy he took to his portrayal. “I keep in mind being terrified to additionally name him and say, ‘We made your character evil,’ however man, he was comfortable about it! He went, ‘Oh my god, that is the best factor ever!’ It gave him a personality to play — ‘Evil Wil Wheaton.’ After which the character developed over time and finally turned a good friend of the fellows, however I cherished that he was okay with that.”

As Invoice Prady appropriately says in Jessica Radloff’s guide, Wil Wheaton does begin out principally enjoying “Evil Wil Wheaton,” however in season 5, he and Sheldon lastly make peace and he turns into buddies with the entire gang. (He nonetheless playfully antagonizes Sheldon fairly usually, although, and it is actually humorous.) It is robust to think about the present with out Wheaton displaying up in nearly each season to hold with the characters, and apparently, Wheaton feels the identical manner.

In Might of 2019, when “The Big Bang Theory” concluded with its season 12 finale “The Stockholm Syndrome,” Wheaton posted on Instagram to commemorate his time on the collection (the put up is now deleted however was chronicled on Digital Spy). After saying he watched the present’s ultimate taping stay, Wheaton stated, “I believe it is truthful to say that if I constructed a tripod out of my profession, the primary legs can be ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘Star Trek,’ and ‘The Large Bang Concept.’ It sort of blows me away that I get to say that. It’s outstanding to me that I’ve gotten to have all of this stuff in my life, when actually simply [one[ of them would be more than anyone could hope for on his or her resume.”

Wheaton wasn’t just grateful to be a part of “The Big Bang Theory,” but went on to say that he thinks 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 to be especially interested in me and what I bring to a production these days,” he continued. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do anything to change that, but I can confidently say that I probably have an on-camera acting career today because of ‘Big Bang Theory,’ and anything I do on camera for the rest of my career will stand on the shoulders of the work I’ve had the privilege and honor to perform over the last decade.”

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