Outside of bringing the outrageous character of Howard Wolowitz to the small screen with flare, Simon Helberg was the master of impressions as well. From Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more, Helberg was spot on with the male celebrities he was impersonating.

The talent that Helberg had with impressions was written into the storyline of Big Bang Theory so that he could impersonate Raj Koothrarappali, played by Kunal Nayyar, as well. This was done several times throughout the show and because the two characters constantly made fun of one another, it did not seem to strike a negative chord with audiences when this happened.

However, Helberg may have taken things too far when he and Nayyar appeared on late-night television together. In fact, not every Big Bang Theory fan was thrilled with Helberg's impression of Nayyar, leading to some backlash for the actor. Backlash that may have led to scaling back on just what impressions were done on Big Bang Theory in the future.

Simon Helberg Is An 'Expert' At Impressions (Including One Of Kunal Nayyar)

Fans of Big Bang Theory know that Helberg is the king of impressions. This was spotlighted several times throughout the series and included both celebrity voice impressions as well as impressions of his co-stars.

The first time, however, that Helberg's talent was shown was doing an impression of Raj in the episode, The Grasshopper Experiment. Because of his spot-on skills of sounding like Raj when talking to a potential love interest on the cellphone, Hellberg did other impressions over the years to fan approval time and time again.

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Another memorable episode where Helberg's impressions were put on display was when Howard was the Dungeon Master in The Love Spell Potential.

During this episode, fans were able to see just how incredible Helberg's skills were when he did impressions of Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Nicolas Cage for the voices of characters during the game Dungeons & Dragons.

This was also one of the few episodes where Sheldon gave his approval and a job well done to Howard versus putting him down, per his normal interaction with his friends on Big Bang Theory.

Helberg, who almost quit Big Bang Theory, also put his impression skills to work when Howard came to work dressed as Sheldon in The Imitation Perturbation. What was fun about this episode was not only did Helberg portray the character of Sheldon down to the mannerisms, but it also allowed Mayim Bialik to show off her skills as Amy Farrah Fowler, when she came dressed up as Bernadette for a Halloween party after Howard impersonated Sheldon.

The impressions of characters and actors were not left to Big Bang Theory for Helberg. He also showed off his talents while on late-night television with the rest of the cast of Big Bang Theory, when prompted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Simon Helberg Impersonated Kunal Nayyar On Late Night TV

The cast of Big Bang Theory were not amateurs to late-night TV. However, getting them all together at one time was not easy to do. But, the group agreed to be on Jimmy Kimmel Live! toward the end of the series and Kimmel used this opportunity to have Helbeg show off his impersonating skills, specifically of Nayyar, in front of a studio audience.

"Simon does a killer Kunal impression," Kimmel stated. "What's it based on and how does it work?"

"Oh, he talks a lot about food. A lot. Very seriously. He's very passionate," Helberg explained. "He comes in, 'Oh my God. Dude. So, last night... you've got to go to this place downtown, dude. It's like, so yum! I got this Branzino and like they take this olive, and they just like set it on fire and it explodes.' And you're like, 'Yeah.'"

Everyone on stage found the impression funny, including Nayyal. However, some fans of the show did not find the impression to be comical, criticizing Helberg's impression instead.

Fans Were Divided Over Simon's Impersonation

After Helberg did his impression of Nayyal, he was praised for a job well done by many of the Big Bang Theory fans who watched the YouTube clip. However, others were not as impressed and made their feelings known about how insensitive they thought Helberg was by doing an Indian accent when he clearly is not of that ethnicity.

"Very racist of you. Just lovely to see how you think everyone sounds the same," one YouTube user commented. "His normal accent does not even sound like that."

Another fan said, "Only white guy in the world allowed to do an Indian accent." "Racist," a third YouTube user simply stated.

via Instar

While some think that Nayyal's facial expressions changed during the clip, in reality, he seemed to be clearing his throat after laughing. As such, not only did the cast that Helberg worked with for years think his impression was funny, but Nayyal did as well.

Does that mean that everyone is going to find the impression funny? Absolutely not. But given how close Helberg and Nayyal are, it was clear that doing an impression by one friend did not rub another friend the wrong way.

Hopefully, if there was any air to clear for Helberg doing an impression of him during the show, Nayyal discussed it with Helberg after their appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! But because Helberg did not hesitate to do the impression, it leads fans to believe that Helberg's impressions did not bother anyone in the cast.

Impressions of Nayyar aside, Helberg is clearly talented in sounding like different celebrities which is why this was highlighted on Big Bang Theory.

It is this and his comedic timing that has left many fans believing that his work was underrated on the show and are thrilled that more of his talent is being allowed to shine in the years after Big Bang Theory went off the air via social media.