‘The Big Bang Theory’ Star Jim Parsons Says He Never Said No To Season 13
The Big Bang Theory fans said goodbye to the gang after the 12th season. 12 years is a good run, and you can still get a Sheldon fix on Young Sheldon. But, it turns out a 13th season wasn’t out of the question. Jim Parsons says he never actually turned down another season.
Parsons appeared on the HFPA In Conversation podcast on Sept. 23 to discuss The Boys in the Band, which will be on Netflix Sept. 30. Here’s what he said about doing one more season of The Big Bang Theory.
Jim Parsons was ready to move on from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ sooner or later
As The Big Bang Theory entered season 12, Parsons was getting the itch to do more. He was able to fit The Boys In the Band in before season 12. Still, there were other opportunities that conflicted with the show.
I had been doing other things but there was something about the timing of that. I realized there were just, I suspected, and I still suspect, many other things I’d like to do. Not all of them are going to fit into the summer hiatus that we had from Big Bang, as wonderful as that had been and as much as I’d gotten to do in that time. I knew that in order to keep exploring and journeying on that road of who I am, both as a person but as an actor specifically in that case, I needed to claim more of my time back.
Jim Parsons, HFPA In Conversation podcast, 9/23/2020
Jim Parsons was okay with ending ‘The Big Bang Theory’ in season 12
Even though Parsons never ruled out a 13th season of The Big Bang Theory, he wasn’t exactly longing for more.
“I don’t mean this in a bad way, because I loved every episode we did,” Parsons said. “I really did, but I didn’t get a jolt out of playing the part anymore. Look, it was a wonderful job. I’m sure plenty of people hear that and they’re like, ‘I don’t get a jolt out of my job either.’ I completely get that. It’s just a different situation in that way.”
They would have done Season 13 if anyone had asked
By the time The Big Bang Theory ended, everyone in the cast was being paid well. It would have been expensive to renew, but the show also made a lot of money. Parsons said he’s sure the entire cast would have considered an offer, but nobody ever did.
“I believe fully they would have done more seasons of Big Bang if we had agreed to as a group,” Parsons said. “The fact was we really never got an offer. So there was never a moment that I actually said no to an amount of money or a contract. There was nothing.”
‘The Big Bang Theory’ still lives
They may not be making and more new episodes of The Big Bang Theory, but you can still see it every day in syndication.
“He really has his own life in a weird way,” Parsons said. “That was something I felt for many years, not just about my character but about the show in general. All of us who worked on the show no longer had the claim on it, in a weird way, that the audience did, and the people who loved it and watched it did. Part of it was that we could never have that vantage point because we were making the sausage. But, some of it has to do with the fact that when a show goes on that long and is successful and connects with people, it sort of becomes their property.”
So Big Bang Theory fans, Sheldon belongs to you now.
“This I feel very strongly, especially over a year now away from playing it,” Parsons said. “The character of Sheldon is their property. I have a very unique relationship with that character, obviously. Everybody else has a unique relationship with that character that I can’t fully see, that I can’t fully understand. It’s a beautiful thing. I don’t know that I would have it any other way, to be honest with you. I wouldn’t want the responsibility. Let him carry on in reruns without my having to help him along anymore.”
