Screenrant
Kaley Cuoco, who starred as Penny in The Big Bang Theory, describes how working on the long-running sitcom helped her in the midst of her divorce.
The Big Bang Theory helped Kaley Cuoco get through her divorce, says the sitcom star. With a successful 12 season run, The Big Bang Theory made history as the longest-running multi-camera comedy in its final season. Cuoco played Penny for all 12 seasons of the series, the only female character in the show's original cast, which also included Jim Parsons as Sheldon, Johnny Galecki as Leonard, Simon Helberg as Howard, and Kunal Nayyar as Raj. Penny was introduced as Sheldon and Leonard's new across the hall neighbor, and her bubbly personality contrasted to humorous effect with their more reserved ways.
Though Penny was often underestimated by the men around her, she helped many of them, especially Sheldon, grow and learn to better interact with the 'real world' throughout the course of the show. She also went through plenty of growth, both personal and professional, over the 12 seasons, getting a happy if divisive ending by the finale. Penny often served as a breath of fresh air for audiences tuning in to The Big Bang Theory as the one 'relatable' character amidst all the scientists in the show, and the actor now reveals that the character offered a similar escape to her during a hard time in her life.
People has offered a glimpse of Jessica Radloff's oral history of the show, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, which is available now. In the book, Cuoco details a scene that was shot just before she announced her divorce from Ryan Sweeting in 2015. While shooting a scene from the season 9 episode "The 2003 Approximation," she recalls having a ball filming despite the personal turmoil, which offered "a really wonderful escape." See what she had to say about the scene below:
"I was in a scene in the comic book store, wearing a purple sweater, and sitting on the couch between Jim and Johnny, while Simon and Kunal were singing this ridiculous song in their little band. And I am hysterically laughing. Genuinely. And they used it. And that was the scene we were shooting when ET [Entertainment Tonight] was watching us, and I remember sitting there, thinking, 'My divorce is about to be announced right now.' Simon and Kunal had me laughing so hard that tears were coming down my face as they were performing this song, and I just got to sit there and watch them as Penny, but it was also me. And it just took me totally out of what was going on in my personal life. And everyone [in the cast] knew what was going on with me and they were very protective. I just remember the drama going on behind the scenes, but shooting that scene was a really wonderful escape."
