Why Toby Loobenfeld From The Big Bang Theory Looks So Familiar

"The Big Bang Theory" may be over and done with, but it has left a lasting impression on an entire generation of TV viewers. The comedy follows a group of super-intelligent physicists as they navigate personal and professional life alongside their friend and neighbor, who is a waitress and aspiring actress.

The series definitely progressed the show's many stars' careers into the stratosphere — but it also had its fair share of cameos and appearances from other Hollywood stars throughout its lifetime. From major actors like James Earl Jones to comic book icons like Stan Lee, and even an appearance by world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking — "The Big Bang Theory" has attracted some big names from the acting world and beyond.

But the list of guest stars and cameos isn't just full of well-known celebrities — sometimes, people who have had solid acting careers but are a little less recognizable appear on the show. And DJ Qualls is exactly one of those types of actors — when he played Toby Loobenfeld, a colleague of Sheldon and research assistant in the particle physics lab during an episode in the show's first season.

Qualls was already a recognizable face when he shared lines with the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" because of a movie he did a few years earlier. Qualls' first acting credit went to his role as Jason on the TV mini-series, "Mama Flora's Family" — but that's not why he may look so familiar. Qualls breakout role was as the awkward college virgin Kyle in the movie "Road Trip" — an off-the-wall comedy that followed four college kids as they drive across the country on a quest to retrieve a sex tape. One of the characters in the movie accidentally mailed a tape to his girlfriend that was of him hooking up with another girl. If that doesn't ring a bell — you may remember it as that movie where Tom Green puts a live mouse in his mouth.

Qualls plays a nerdy loner who only gets invited along so the other guys can use his car — while on the trip, though, his character Kyle finally experiences some of the college life that his character had been envious of. The small-budget movie ended up blowing up at the theaters and became a "must-see" comedy as it stayed in the box office's top five movies for nearly a month — but after "Road Trip," it would be a while before Qualls would get back into the mainstream.

Directly after "Road Trip," Qualls continued his movie career, appearing in some recognizable movies like "Hustle & Flow" and "Lone Star State of Mind" — but nothing would compare to that box office hit, which grossed nearly $120 million. Qualls also made a ton of appearances on really popular shows throughout the 2000s like "Scrubs," "Lost," "My Name Is Earl," and "Breaking Bad" — and even played himself in a Britney Spears music video in 2002.

Qualls would also go on to reprise his role as Kyle in "Road Trip: Beer Pong" — a straight-to-DVD sequel to the original movie with only Qualls coming back to play his original character. Qualls did end up landing a role in the series "Memphis Beat" as Davey Sutton — but the comedy-crime drama only ended up lasting two seasons and was canceled in 2011.

Qualls stayed on Hollywood producer's radars throughout the 2010s — and landed a role on the critically acclaimed show "Legit" on the FX Network in 2013 — which got fantastic reviews at the time of its Unfortunately, themiere. The show got canceled after just two seasons due to low ratings — but it ended up being a bit of a cult classic and has since been syndicated on to a few streaming platforms.

After "Legit," Qualls was cast as a recurring character in "Z Nation" in 2014 and then in "The Man in the High Castle" in 2015 — he would last through both of those series, appearing in over 60 episodes between the two shows' multiple seasons. The two series stayed around into 2018 and would be decently popular among fans and critics alike — both are still available to be streamed on Amazon Prime as well as "Z Nation" being available on Netflix.

Qualls has several new projects in the works — but as recently as 2020, he concluded his longest role as a character on the show "Supernatural" – a sci-fi series about hunting supernatural creatures where Qualls plays a hunter turned werewolf. Qualls first took on the role in 2011 and has been coming back for nearly a decade, with his last appearance in the show's final season in 2020.

Even more recently, Qualls is working on a couple of new projects in the TV world — playing roles in the modern-day Western drama "Bring On The Dancing Horses" and appearing in Guillermo del Toro's "Cabinet of Curiosities." And Qualls is back on the big screen as the star of an independent thriller called "Turning Point" that releases in 2022.