In May 2019, The Big Bang Theory ended after 12 seasons. The character Sheldon was played by Jim Parsons (50) and was one of the main characters of the series. He was ultimately partly responsible for the end of The Big Bang Theory.
This is the situation:
- In the podcast “David Tennant does a Podcast with…”, Jim Parsons talked about his decision at the time to leave The Big Bang Theory after experiencing an intense summer.
- Jim Parsons played the role of the gifted physicist Sheldon in the American sitcom.
- The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019 with its 12th season. According to Moviepilot, a spin-off of the series is planned.
Jim Parsons had to make a decision
These were the reasons for his exit: Jim Parsons talks in the episode of the podcast about the reasons for his exit from The Big Bang Theory after 12 years and 279 episodes.
In the podcast, he explains that he experienced an intense summer when the last filming of the 11th season of The Big Bang Theory took place. After the last recordings, he worked on other projects. He felt exhausted.
In the meantime, one of his dogs had reached “the end of its life.” He walked it before a shoot.
Parsons describes with a trembling voice that he was so tired at the time: But his husband Todd said they had to go to the shoot.
Parsons cried and said, “The dog will die while I work, I feel so bad.”
A few days later, the couple decided to have their 14-year-old dog, who was getting worse, euthanized. Parsons expressed that he did not know how he would finish his work. “I was just so down,” he says.
Additionally, he slipped and broke his foot. “I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, about to fall,” Parsons says.
He realized that he had to make a decision. His father had passed away at 52. He understood that when the 12th season of The Big Bang Theory ended, he would be 46 years old:
I am not superstitious or anything, but it was just a matter of context. And that’s what I said […] when I returned to work that year. I said, “If you told me I had six years left to live like my father, I think there are other things I need to try. And I don’t even know what they are, but I feel like I need to try.”
Jim Parsons in the podcast “David Tennant does a Podcast with…” via Spotify
“We cried for hours”
This was how his team reacted: His team was very surprised – and not in a positive way. This surprised Jim Parsons in turn. He did what he had to do.
In the book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story Of The Epic Hit Series”, Johnny Galecki (in the series Dr. Leonard Hofstadter) wrote: “We thought we would go into Chuck’s office to talk about a renegotiation, and then Chuck handed the scepter to Jim.”
Kaley Cuoco said that they cried for hours when Parsons announced his exit. “We thought we would do one more year,” says the actress of the character Penny (via yahoo.com).
Jim Parsons states that he did not expect The Big Bang Theory to end with his exit.
Another actor initially did not want to accept the offer to be in a series. He thought he would shoot 12 episodes and then go home. He did not expect the series to become so successful:
Captain Picard admits: He only appeared in Star Trek because he thought it would be a terrible flop
