‘Big Bang Theory’: Sheldon Is the Ultimate Trekkie But Jim Parsons Is Anything But
Alert: Numerous TV characters that made a huge impact in pop culture are not exactly like the actors who portray them. In many of those cases, the actors are polar opposites from the characters they portrayed. Sometimes fans appreciate that if the character is overly notorious.
For a character like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, most avid watchers loved what he represented. As annoying as he might have been to some as a social outcast with a high I.Q., Jim Parsons seems to be mostly the opposite.
One glaring part of this is the obsessive love of Star Trek by Sheldon and his male cohorts. It turns out Jim Parsons has a different view on Star Trek, stunning fans.
Sheldon was the ultimate nerd personified
Some might suggest The Big Bang Theory played up an exaggerated caricature of nerds from the sectors of tech and science. Most viewers managed to get over this annoying comedic aspect once the characters became more developed.
It was still hilarious to see Sheldon have such a fanatical response to everything Star Trek. In the realm of nerds, interest in Star Trek is not really an exaggeration. One would think, though, Parsons had the same type of fanaticism as so many people have.
He once revealed to TIME Magazine he had never seen a single Star Trek episode, despite fans always asking him about it. More so, fans always expect him to know everything about science, and he has to tell his fans he has no idea.
Said Parsons himself: “I’m very frank about certain things, I get asked a lot of science things and I’m like, ‘You’re kidding’. And even the pop culture… I’ve never seen Star Trek. I don’t know Doctor Who”.
Was Jim Parsons the exact opposite of Sheldon?
Based on his revelations above, it seems Parsons was absolutely nothing like Sheldon, including even watching any of the pop culture his character salivated over. When eliminating Doctor Who from the equation, plus things like comic books and Red Dwarf, it says much about Parsons as an actor.
Perhaps the next time everyone sees Parsons in something, he will play someone more like himself. Recently, he played the legendary beefcake talent agent Henry Willson in the Ryan Murphy Netflix drama Hollywood. It was a perfect role to get further away from the nerd tag.
Then again, Parsons may not be able to shake off the Sheldon persona completely since he still does the voice of adult Sheldon on CBS’s Young Sheldon. No one should be surprised if adult Sheldon even shows up for some cameos if this series continues to flourish.
One thing Parsons proved is no one should assume an actor is in concert with a character making ripples in pop culture.
Jim Parsons is not the only actor who managed to fool fans
A lot of famous TV characters over the years were never like the actors who portrayed them. A good example of that is Carroll O’Connor who played the iconic Archie Bunker on All in the Family. His portrayal was so convincing, fans thought O’Connor was really a bigot like Archie when he was anything but.
One more recent case is actor Jack Gleeson who played the despicable (and short-lived) King Joffrey on Game of Thrones. Gleeson was nothing like Joffrey in the least, including quitting acting for a while due to being a more thoughtful person in real life.
Parsons will likely never quit acting if probably realizing he may never shake Sheldon completely from his persona. To appease fans at the possible future Big Bang Theory fan conventions, maybe he already started doing his homework by finally digging into Star Trek/Doctor Who lore.
