Summary

• Kaley Cuoco almost missed out on her role in The Big Bang Theory because she didn't initially fit the character's essence.
• Marisa Tomei and other famous actors were considered for the show's female lead before Cuoco was hired.
• Jodi Lyn O'Keefe and Amanda Walsh were both hired and fired before Cuoco ultimately landed the role.

Looking back at the history of The Big Bang Theory, it is hard to imagine how different it would have been without Kaley Cuoco. The show may have flopped so the cast wouldn't have gotten rich, become friends with each other, and earned lots of other roles.

Even if the show was a hit without Cuoco, she wouldn't be as rich as she is, landed other roles, and continued to get big paydays once TBBT ended. Fortunately, Cuoco was hired for the show and fans have continued to keep up on what she and her co-stars are doing. However, Cuoco came really close to missing out on the role, since other actors were hired and fired first.

Kaley Cuoco Was Rejected From The Big Bang Theory

Since The Big Bang Theory came to an end, Kaley Cuoco has been extremely successful as an actor. Between starring in Harley Quinn and The Flight Attendant, Cuoco's career doesn't seem like it has missed a beat. Despite that, Cuoco is still so closely associated with her TBBT character Penny that many fans think she has disappeared since the show ended.

Given that Cuoco is still so closely associated with The Big Bang Theory, the fact that she almost lost out on the show is hard to believe. However, the truth is that Cuoco was rejected from the sitcom when she first auditioned.

In 2022, a book titled "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" was published. Written by Jessica Radloff, the book gave fans an amazingly complete account of how The Big Bang Theory came to be a mammoth success.

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

For her book, Radloff spoke to Ken Miller, the casting director who played a lead role in the casting of The Big Bang Theory. As Miller explained to Radloff, Cuoco was a bad fit for the original version of the character that ultimately became Penny.

"[Cuoco is] so sunny and bubbly, and [the network] just loved her, but she just didn't bring the dark qualities. She just wasn't the essence of Penny in that first incarnation."

As Cuoco explained to Radloff, she "loved" the idea of starring in The Big Bang Theory before she got rejected. However, since Cuoco was a former child star, she'd learned to deal with rejection, as she explained to Radloff.

"I kind of have a way of moving on because you have to."

What Cuoco couldn't have known when she was first rejected was that the wheels were already turning in a way that would pay off for her. Other actors were hired as TBBT's female leads and a pilot was produced.

Once the show's original pilot was shot, however, the people in charge concluded The Big Bang Theory didn't work as it was. As a result, the decision was made to retool the pilot in a myriad of different ways.

Most importantly for Cuoco, the show's female lead was changed into the character that fans came to know. Those character changes meant that Cuoco suddenly fit the role, and she ultimately was hired.

Several Penny Actors Were Hired And Fired

Before The Big Bang Theory began airing, Kaley Cuoco had already starred in another sitcom, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. While that show was more successful than most other TV projects, most people still didn't know who Cuoco was.

Given that Cuoco wasn't a major celebrity, it is pretty interesting to know that several famous actors were considered for TBBT's female lead before she got the job.

When "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" was released in 2022, a lot of new information was revealed. Perhaps one of that book's most surprising revelations was that Marisa Tomei was considered for TBBT's female lead.

An excerpt from that book featured Jim Parsons talking about how he read with Tomei during the casting process for The Big Bang Theory.

"I had the part of Sheldon for a long time before everything was settled. I read with Marisa Tomei. Johnny was cast by then, but he was doing a play in New York. I had come back to read with her. I remember going to the snack room after we were done and telling Ken and Nikki [Valko, casting director], 'I’ve never been in someone else’s audition before!' And they said, 'Well, she was kind of really auditioning you.' And I went, 'Oh, that makes sense.' But oh my gosh what a different world that would have been."

The book also featured The Big Bang Theory's co-creator and executive producer talking about other celebrities who tried to star in the sitcom. According to Bill Prady, at least two other actors who were already famous auditioned for The Big Bang Theory.

"Tara Reid also came in for the role of Katie, and I think Elizabeth Berkley went to network for the role, too. She was terrific."

While Tomei, Berkley, and Reid could have starred in The Big Bang Theory, none of them were ultimately hired for the show. However, two actors were hired to play the female lead before Cuoco was and then got fired.

Some major TV roles were recast after the pilot, according to Buzzfeed.

As "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" revealed, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe was hired first. Best known for starring in movies like Halloween H20 and She's All That, O'Keefe is also memorable for shows like Prison Break and The Vampire Diaries. O'Keefe was fired before the first pilot was shot, and Bill Prady explained why that was the case.

"Jodi is just a terrific actress, and she later appeared on the show as a prostitute that Wolowitz meets in Vegas. Jodi is who you want if you want somebody who can give you a tough, street-hardened woman who plays that character real. She’s just a remarkable woman, and I love everything that she does."

After O'Keefe left The Big Bang Theory, the next actor who was hired to portray the show's female lead was Amanda Walsh. While speaking to Jessica Radloff for "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series", Walsh reflected on getting fired from The Big Bang Theory.

"And then I found out that Big Bang Theory wasn’t getting picked up, either, but it was going to be retooled—except with a new character, without me. It’s never a call you wanna get as an actor, but Bill was as nice as possible about the whole thing."

However, Walsh stated that getting hired for another project helped her feel better about not getting TBBT.

"And then I was really fortunate that a year later, Burrows hired me for another pilot called The Mastersons of Manhattan with Molly Shannon and Natasha Richardson. For me, that really validated the notion of “It’s not you,” because as an actor, you always question that. So, to get rehired by the same people for another big project was very, very validating. And I’ve been brought in for other projects of Chuck’s, and Nikki and Ken have always said that Chuck is a fan [of mine], which helps a lot.”