TV - Movies
How The Big Bang
Theory's Jim
Parsons Used To
Prep For
Sheldon's Lines
By SAMANTHA BAMBINO
Over the course of his 12 years playing neurotic physicist Sheldon Cooper on "The Big Bang Theory," Jim Parsons was recognized for his acting chops with a slew of Emmy wins and nominations. Unlike his co-star Mayim Bialik, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience, Parsons has no background in science — so how did he manage to play Sheldon so expertly?
While a masters in theater from the University of San Diego certainly helps, Parsons revealed that practice makes perfect. "I really just [run] rampant around my apartment saying these words, this dialogue, over and over. I'd go outside and say it. I'd sit down and say it. I'd stand up and run while saying it. Because I thought, 'I need to be able to trust myself to have these words come out.'”
It also helped that UCLA physics instructor David Saltzberg served as a fact-checker and ensured the actors presented the scientific material as accurately as possible. Still, some of his contributions were lost on Parsons. "He [Saltzberg] sends over this diagram on this white board and he'll throw in little inside jokes that I don't find funny because I don't know what the heck he's talking about."