Summary

• DJ Qualls came close to being cast as Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory but lost the role to Jim Parsons.
• Qualls found the audition process traumatic and vowed to never go through anything like that again.
• Despite not getting the role, Qualls was eventually hired to play a different character.

Before The Big Bang Theory came to an end, the show became successful enough to make its stars incredibly rich and famous. Thanks to the show's immense success, a lot has been learned about the cast, including if they were friends and what they are up to now.

While TBBT fans want to know where to watch the cast's projects, there is no doubt Jim Parsons became the show's biggest star. As a result, he has made a fortune since TBBT ended and he has gotten to portray several interesting characters. Before any of that, however, Parsons was already talented enough to traumatize a celebrity he competed with.

Competing Against Jim Parsons Changed DJ Qualls' Career Forever

Before The Big Bang Theory became the mammoth hit it was, the show had a rocky start. Forced to largely retool after an original pilot episode that didn't work, the team behind The Big Bang Theory made it work. One of the ways the show's producers did this was by replacing the show's original female lead, Amanda Walsh, with Kaley Cuoco.

Fortunately for Jim Parsons, however, he played a key role in every version of The Big Bang Theory that ever existed. However, that doesn't mean he didn't have to work to be cast as Sheldon Cooper. In fact, Parsons had to compete with another actor who was traumatized by that process.

What are DJ Qualls' biggest roles, according to Tribute?

• Road Trip
• Cherry Falls
• The New Guy
• Big Trouble
• Lone Star State of Mind
• Lost
• Monk
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• My Name is Earl

In 2014, the former teen star DJ Qualls was interviewed by TV Line about his career. During that interview, Qualls revealed that he came really close to being cast as Sheldon Cooper. That makes a lot of sense considering that during Qualls' career, he has consistently been cast as nerdy social outcasts.

As a professional actor, a big part of the job is trying to get roles only to lose them. However, as Qualls explained to TV Line, losing to Parsons was such a traumatic experience for him that he pledged to never go through anything like that again.

Qualls started by explaining to TV Line that he got really far in the process of auditioning for The Big Bang Theory. In fact, according to Qualls, he was so close to getting the role that he and Parsons were brought to audition for network executives.

“I studio-tested against Jim Parsons for that role. It came down to me and him."

While getting studio approval before being hired for a major TV gig is part of the job, what happened next to Qualls and Parson was unusual. Instead of having each actor speak to the people in charge of CBS separately, Qualls revealed they were forced to audition in front of each other.

What other actors were almost cast in The Big Bang Theory, according to Watchmojo?

• John Ross Bowie
• Pamela Adlon
• Kate Micucci
• Brie Larson
• Macaulay Culkin
• Amanda Walsh

"And they made us read, before all of the CBS studio executives, in front of each other.”

Unfortunately for Qualls, Parsons got to audition for the studio executives first.

As Qualls explained to TV Line, he quickly came to believe that Parsons had to portray Sheldon Cooper after watching him audition. Fully aware he wasn't going to get the role, Qualls turned to The Big Bang Theory's head honcho and tried to concede.

“He went before me. And I turned to Chuck Lorre afterward, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to get this part. I can’t read.’"

If Qualls had some faint hope that Lorre would disagree that the part was already Parsons', that wasn't what happened. As disappointing as that must have been for Qualls, things actually got a lot worse than that.

Even though Chuck Lorre completely agreed that Parsons was going to be cast as Sheldon Cooper, he didn't let Qualls off the hook. Instead, Lorre insisted that Qualls still had to audition as planned.

"And he was like, ‘Oh no, you’re not going to get this part – but you have to read.'”

As Qualls explained to TV Line, he found it extremely humiliating to be forced to audition for a role everyone already knew he would never get. Qualls went on to say, “that was the last time I tested.”

DJ Qualls Regretted The Big Bang Theory Role He Eventually Got

To Chuck Lorre's credit, he didn't just forget about DJ Qualls after the actor failed to be cast as Sheldon Cooper. Instead, he hired the former teen star to play the titular role during the first season episode of The Big Bang Theory titled "The Loobenfeld Decay".

Cast as Toby Loobenfeld, Qualls portrayed an actor who was hired by Sheldon Cooper to portray his fictional cousin with addiction issues. For most TBBT fans, Qualls' episode of the show is a memorable one, and he was funny in it. After all, it was funny to see Sheldon Cooper be so dedicated to making his lie seem real that he hired an actor.

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For Qualls, however, his episode of The Big Bang Theory is an embarrassment. In fact, Qualls told Amy Kaplan from the website 1428 Elm during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con that he regretted taking his TBBT role.

"I try not to take things that I feel that can’t rise to. And I’ve only taken one job, and I won’t mention it … it was on Big Bang Theory … that I shouldn’t have taken it. That’s not me. That presentational style of acting is so not me. And I took it and regretted, I cried. I cried that night. The day I remember driving to Warner Bros praying to God and I don’t do that, that here would be a fire at Warner Bros and there was! Isn’t that crazy? Don’t f–k with me. But it wasn’t big enough for it to delay taping."