‘Was miserable’: Jim Parsons reveals the hidden toll of starring in The Big Bang Theory

“I look back now and realize that there were many ways, at some of the best moments of my life, I was miserable. I was not happy. I was stressed,” the 53-year-old actor. He event went on to claim that he wouldn’t relive that phase of his life “for any amount of money” today.

Jim Parsons acknowledged that while the role of Sheldon Cooper refuses to leave him, he’s “been changing my relationship to it.” “It’s evolving, and it gets better all the time. What I feel is better, what I feel is healthier. It’s not something that I think probably anybody, but I was certainly not equipped to, looking back,” added the actor.

About The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory revolved around Sheldon Cooper, his flatmate and fellow physicist Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), their fellow nerds — aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) — and their neighbour Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an aspiring actor.

The show, despite getting average reviews initially, picked up over seasons. It was nominated for an Emmy Award four times in a row from 2011 to 2014. Parsons even won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times, along with a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series in 2011.

Jim Parsons, along with the rest of the cast, reportedly received $60,000 per episode in season 1 in 2007, which went up to $900,000 per episode by the end of season 12 in 2019. However, there were rumours that The Big Bang Theory concluded its historic run seven years ago, primarily because Parsons wanted to walk out of the show. However, he didn’t offer any specific explanation for doing so.

“It’s both as complex and as simple as just feeling innately that it was time. It speaks to a lot of things, none of them bad. There is no negative reason to stop doing Big Bang. It felt like we have been able to do this for so many years now, it doesn’t feel like there is anything left on the table. Not that we couldn’t keep doing it,” Parsons told EW in 2019.

“I guess at a personal level, it feels like the right time in my life. It’s not like there is something specific I am aiming for. I’m firmly in my middle age now. I don’t know how much longer I can wear (the T-shirts) without looking really long in the tooth. In a way, it’s exciting. What is this next chapter of life? What is this next chapter for all of us?,” he added.

Before starting the final season, Jim Parsons issued a fairly emotional statement at the time.

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“It is hard (nearly impossible, actually) to really accept that this is a picture of the first of the final 24 episodes we will shoot for The Big Bang Theory. I feel very fortunate that we have another 23 episodes to shoot this season because I am hopeful that with each and every one, my level of REALLY accepting this fact will sink in,” he wrote.