Are Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Friends in Real Life?
While you’ll find a small contingent of people who never got The Big Bang Theory, you’ll find many more who’ve appreciated it from Day One. You can’t fake chemistry like we’ve seen on the show over the last 12 years. Part of this has to be because the cast is all friends, right?
From all indications, the cast has been real friends all along. Considering Parson’s Sheldon Cooper and Galecki’s Leonard Hofstadter once shared the same apartment, everyone still wants to know whether they’re simpatico geek comrades like they are on the show.
Let’s take a few minutes to find out how they’ve gotten along, something not always a pleasant reality in the world of TV.
Galecki was originally going to play Sheldon
The friendship between Parsons and Galecki could have been radically different had the latter stolen away the Sheldon Cooper role. Producers for TBBT offered Galecki the role of Sheldon first, though Johnny preferred the Leonard role from the get-go.
He’s said in interviews he found the Leonard role more interesting (if also potentially more annoying) because it was a role so atypical from what he’d done before.
Perfect casting obviously fell into place once Parsons settled into playing Sheldon. It was also clear the chemistry between Galecki and Parsons was gold from the beginning, despite both not being so geek-like in real life.
Imagine how tense it would have been had Galecki taken the Sheldon role and Parsons played Leonard instead. Those twist of fate dynamics do happen on real TV comedies and dramas on occasion.
Fortunately, Parsons and Galecki have seen eye-to-eye on the vision of The Big Bang Theory.
The friendship between Parsons and Galecki has an emotional connection
We’ve noted before that the best marriages and friendships are usually fueled by something emotional in each person’s past. While working together, Parsons and Galecki discovered they both lost their fathers in tragic accidents.
Reportedly, Galecki lost his dad in a car accident when former was only 16 years old. Parsons also lost his father in a car accident only a few years before TBBT began.
No doubt they’ve had discussions about this and presumably had a closer bond as a result. It’s no wonder they’ve had such perfect repartee on the show without making it look forced.
Secrets like this sometimes explain the near magical chemistry we’ve seen from casts in classic sitcoms.
Their close friendship led to agreement on how ‘TBBT’ ends
According to an interview on Entertainment Tonight, Parsons, Galecki (and Kaley Cuoco) have all been in agreement for a while on how TBBT should wind up.
Seeing them all on the same page with the writers on the outcome gives a good feeling when you consider other internal conflicts on series finales.
Knowing TBBT had enduring friendships for a solid 12 years should give fans a good feeling in believing the relationships were as close as possible to reality. Even though we know most of the cast are far from geeks in real life, having a continuing respect for one another makes their performances all the more believable.
No wonder Galecki and Parsons keep saying there wasn’t a dry eye on the set when the last episode taped. Their strong connection makes us wonder if they can really stay apart months and years after the final TBBT airs.
Will Parsons and Galecki ever return to their classic roles?
When you look at Galecki’s television history, he has numerous ironic connections to various television shows (including Roseanne). There’s always a good chance he and Parsons will work together again in something, if not even their TBBT roles.
The only reason we say that is sitcom reboots will likely go on for a while, just in time for a possible TBBT reboot. Unless by then, TV reboots finally turn into one of the worst and disowned trends.
