Did you know that the character of Penny in “The Big Bang Theory” could have been bad and played by another actress than Kaley Cuoco?
Her role as Penny, Leonard and Sheldon’s next door neighbor on the cult series The Big Bang Theory, brought her international fame. But did you know that American actress Kaley Cuoco almost never played this cult character on the small screen?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the two creators of The Big Bang Theory, Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, revealed that a first pilot of the show, never aired, had been filmed with another actress (Amanda Walsh) in the role main feminine.
“The real pilot of the series was actually the second pilot. We shot it after a first one that didn’t work for a lot of reasons”says Bill Prady. “In the first pilot, the female character (who at the time was called Katie) is pretty tough. She’s kind of dangerous and wasn’t very nice to boys.”
Prady remembers the test screening of the pilot, which delivered a very clear verdict. “People hated this female character. But what was amazing was that they were very supportive of Leonard and Sheldon”he says.
Below, an excerpt from the famous pilot never aired:
“We didn’t realize that the public saw Leonard and Sheldon as children”notes Chuck Lorre. “They were very naive and childish, no matter how smart they were. They were very vulnerable, and the public didn’t want a toxic presence around them.”
“That’s why we rewrote the character of Katie”he continues. “She became Penny (Kaley Cuoco), who is much more charmed by boys and kind to them than a woman who would take advantage of them.”
Kaley Cuoco will play Penny for all twelve seasons of The Big Bang Theory. And Amanda Walsh will never appear on the show. “She was incredible in the role, but we didn’t quite understand the latter. It was our fault”concludes Chuck Lorre.
The Big Bang Theory: did you notice the little hidden details of the series?