Before joining ‘The Big Bang Theory’, Mayim Bialik almost quit her acting career. In a career divided by acting and her will to study, Bialik just kept her acting career going because of a bigger personal reason.
Mayim Bialik is mostly known for her role as Amy Farrah Fowler in the show ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Before entering the show, she played the star role in the show ‘Blossom’ and took a long break after this role to become a doctor in neuroscience.
Highlights —
- What led Mayim Bialik to join ‘The Big Bang Theory’?
- Mayim Bialik was already on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ before Amy’s role
What led Mayim Bialik to join ‘The Big Bang Theory’?
The big reason why Mayim Bialik kept taking auditions was that she needed to pay for her health insurance. After starring in the show ‘Blossom’, Bialik took a long break to go study neurobiology. More specifically, she retired from acting to get a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA. As she finished her studies, her main goal was to play minor roles just so she could afford her insurance and pay the bills. She did not have any idea that auditioning for Amy’s role in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ would be a major shift in her life.
In a recent interview with ‘The Graham Norton Show’, via “Digital Spy”, she explained all of these changes in her life. Bialik said,
“I left the industry for 12 years and I got a doctorate in neuroscience. I wanted to experience life where you’re valued for what’s in between your ears and not just for what you can provide for other people. I was literally running out of health insurance and thought that if I could get a few small parts it would help. I’d never seen ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and didn’t know what it was. I was cast and my life changed”.
Mayim Bialik was already on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ before Amy’s role
A fun fact about Bialik’s relationship with ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was that she was already mentioned in the show before she even auditioned for the role. In episode 13, “The Bat Bar Conjecture”, on season 1, she was referenced by her role in ‘Blossom’. After the boys attend the annual Physics Bowl, Sheldon is kicked out for being overwhelming, like most of the other times. While they are deciding what to do from that point on, Raj says that they should recruit
“the actress who played TV’s ‘Blossom’, since she has a PhD in neuroscience or something”.
Another fun coincidence is that Johnny Galecki, who plays Leonard, appeared in ‘Blossom’ as a random guy that made out with Bialik’s character in one episode.
After thinking of retiring from acting, now Bialik has no plans of doing it. ‘The Big Bang Theory’ is over but now she is the star on Jim Parsons’ (Sheldon Cooper) ‘Call Me Kat’ Fox series.
Searching for a way to pay for health insurance could not have had a better outcome for Mayim Bialik. Where do you want to see her next?
