Melissa Rauch is best known for her portrayal of quirky microbiologist Bernadette in the long-running and astronomically successful sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. Although most of the iconic show’s cast members led vastly different lives before the show, Rauch’s pre-Big Bang Theory life is arguably the most fascinating.
Rauch had been acting long before The Big Bang Theory graced the small screen, earning fleeting roles in comedies like Kath and Kim and Best Week Ever. Despite gaining some short-lived acclaim for these roles, the star was yet to land her break out role.
After languishing in obscurity for several years, Rauch’s financial situation deteriorated to the extent that she started living off unemployment checks. Here's how amid this destitute situation, Rauch landed the role of Bernadette, which gradually propelled her to A-list celebrity and millionaire status.
Melissa Rauch Had A Hard Time Landing Roles In Hollywood
Melissa Rauch moved to Los Angeles in the mid-2000s after her one woman show, The Miss Education of Jenna Bush, caught the eye of a Hollywood agent. The 42-year-old hoped that the move would revitalize her theater career. However, it didn’t take long after her big move to realize that her dreams would not be coming true.
“We did a showcase of [‘Miss Education’ in L.A.],” she told Backstage in 2020, “and not a lot of people showed up because not a lot of people see theater in L.A.—so that was another lesson.”
Despite this set-back, Rauch continued to pursue her dreams of stardom, landing short-lived roles in shows like True Blood and Kath & Kim. Although the star often did well in auditions, she almost exclusively booked roles on comedy shows that never aired or tanked almost as soon as they premiered.
In fact, the first decade of Rauch’s career was marred by such devastating bad luck that she failed an audition to become a hand model for TGI Fridays.
“They said, ‘We just need a close-up of your hands serving the fajitas,’ or whatever,” Rauch recalled in an interview with Backstage, “and no joke, I heard the director go, ‘Jesus Christ!’ They were just so raw and beat up. I didn’t get the job.”
Melissa Rauch Was Collecting Unemployment Before The Big Bang Theory
It took years of writing obscure short films like The Condom Killer and composing songs like Partially Stalked Love between fleeting acting gigs before Melissa Rauch landed the iconic role of Bernadette.
By this time, years of fruitlessly trying to make her name for herself in Hollywood had depleted the star’s finances so extensively that she’d started living off unemployment checks.
I was a fan of the show when I got the audition,” Rauch disclosed to The Hollywood Reporter. “That week, I had been at the unemployment office to get my unemployment check. I had to go to this seminar about how to get a job. It was awful. It was a dark week! I got the audition in my email, and it said Big Bang Theory, and it was a show that I'd been watching. I was excited and psyched myself out thinking there was no way.”
Landing A Role On The Big Bang Theory Was A Dream Come True For Melissa Rauch
While most fans would concur that Melissa Rauch’s portrayal of Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz was almost faultless, her audition was far from perfect. The Batman and Harley Quinn star was so nervous that she momentarily acquired a Canadian accent in the middle of her performance.
“There were a ton of girls at the audition. When they brought me in a second time for all the producers, they'd narrowed it down to six of us,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“In the audition, for some reason, I had to say the word "about" and it came out "abouuuut," and Chuck [Lorre] asked me if I was Canadian. My nerves were making me sound Canadian!”
Rauch was, therefore, understandably over the moon when the show’s casting team called her back with positive news. “I got the call on my drive back to my shitty apartment, and I was so excited,” she said. “I stepped over the homeless man sleeping outside my building, opened the door, and screamed to my husband that I got the part. It was for one episode at the time, and it was a dream come true."
At the start of her Big Bang Theory tenure, Rauch was earning a sizeable salary of $75,000 per episode. However, as the show neared its final chapter, Rauch was earning over $500,000, making her one of the highest earning actors in television. In addition, Rauch was making some serious cash from starring in major productions like Ice-Age: Collision, which gradually inflated her net worth to $20 million.
