Cast reunions, tofu tales, and more weddings than you might expect — Melissa Rauch has been pretty busy since The Big Bang Theory came to an end.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Cast reunions, tofu tales, and more weddings than you might expect.
00:05Melissa Rauch has been pretty busy since The Big Bang Theory came to an end.
00:10The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons, from 2007 until 2019. Fans of the show fell in love
00:16with Melissa Rauch when her character Bernadette first appeared in Season 3.
00:21"'Hi, Jamie, I'm sensing a little hostility. Is it maybe because,
00:24like Sheldon's work, your sex life is also theoretical?"
00:28All these years later, the cast is still close.
00:31"'Oh, we've never fallen out of love.'"
00:34Aside from staying friendly, the actors have occasionally reunited on professional
00:38projects as well. Rauch has appeared on Mayim Bialik's podcast, for example,
00:43as well as appearing on Celebrity Jeopardy! during Bialik's time as host.
00:47Meanwhile, Rauch and Kunal Nayyar had a mini-reunion when Nayyar guest-starred
00:51on Rauch's hit sitcom Night Court in 2024.
00:55"'We'll always be a part of each other's life. It's family forever.'"
00:59In 2019, Rauch branched out into the literary world with her children's book,
01:03The Tales of Tofu. This book is about a little cube of tofu and includes family-friendly recipes
01:09to promote healthy eating. Rauch's daughter Sadie was a toddler when the book was published
01:14and served as inspiration for its message. As Rauch told People magazine,
01:18"'I find that whenever you're trying to introduce your kid to anything,
01:21books are such a great way to do that.'" Rauch explained that she and her daughter
01:25enjoyed preparing the tofu-based meals together, even if Sadie was mostly just watching. She
01:30explained,
01:31"'It's exciting even from just a young age having kids get involved in the process
01:35and then they feel excited to try what they made.'"
01:38In May 2020, Rauch announced the birth of her second child, a son named Brooks.
01:42The actor took to Instagram to share her happy news, posting a sweet pic to mark the occasion.
01:48But Rauch's son entered the world in a somewhat unusual manner,
01:51as he was born during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that Rauch gave birth alone,
01:56with only medical personnel by her side. In an essay for Glamour, she recalled,
02:01"'Although the hospital I was delivering at did allow birth partners,
02:04my husband had to stay home with our daughter since our original plan of having family come to
02:08town, as well as our backup plans, were no longer options due to COVID-19.'"
02:13In the birth announcement, Rauch gave a special shout-out to her doctors and nurses,
02:17who she called frontline heroes. She added,
02:21"'Words can't describe how grateful I am to have this baby boy join our family,
02:25but to say that it is a surreal time to be bringing life into the world is an understatement.'"
02:30"'Is it my voice? Am I too bossy?'
02:34"'My arm is feeling numb.'"
02:36Fans of The Big Bang Theory will recognize the high-pitched voice of Bernadette anywhere,
02:40but Melissa Rauch sounds quite different from her character in real life.
02:44On an episode of The Rubin Report in 2013, Rauch shared the inspiration for Bernadette's voice.
02:50"'Bernadette's voice is very similar to my mother's, except without the Jersey accent.'"
02:56Bernadette's voice was actually Rauch's own creation. She decided to try it out
03:00during her audition, hoping to stand out from the competition.
03:04"'And I was just very nervous in that waiting room,
03:07and there was so many people there, and it's like, I just, I wanted to try something different.'"
03:12Rauch's talent for doing voices has served her well in the entertainment industry,
03:16as she has voiced characters on series such as Ant-Man and Robot Chicken,
03:20as well as the animated film Batman & Harley Quinn.
03:23"'I don't make deals with psychopaths.'"
03:26"'So-she-o-path! So-she-o-path!''
03:31After The Big Bang Theory wrapped, Rauch continued to do voice work,
03:34most notably on the popular children's shows The Chicken Squad and Fire Buds.
03:39After Rauch starred on The Big Bang Theory,
03:42one young fan inspired her to use her celebrity platform for a charitable cause.
03:46Oscar Keough was just 3 years old when he was diagnosed with a type of terminal brain cancer
03:51called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Oscar's mother reached out to Rauch via Instagram,
03:56as her son was a big Bernadette fan, and the two formed a close friendship.
04:01Oscar tragically died at the age of 5, and Rauch and the Keough family started Oscar's Kids,
04:06a non-profit to raise funds and bring awareness to this rare and devastating
04:10form of pediatric cancer. Discussing her experience in the non-profit realm, Rauch told Forbes,
04:16"'As far as my background and not having experience running a charity,
04:20the only thing I can authentically say is that I had the passion for becoming an advocate for
04:24this cause based on one of the most inspirational friendships in my life.'"
04:28In 2021, Oscar's Kids received sponsorships and funding from a variety of organizations,
04:34including the NFL and the Four Seasons Maui. The money raised went to Stanford,
04:38where researchers worked on treatments and a potential cure for DIPG. Rauch told Forbes,
04:44"'I feel like with having the platform that I do, it was paramount to me that I do something
04:48good with that and try and make a difference.'"
04:51In 2023, Rauch returned to the small screen in a big way. Starring on Night Court,
04:55a reboot of the popular 80s sitcom, Rauch plays Judge Abby Stone, daughter of the show's original
05:01judge, Harry T. Stone. Original series star Harry Anderson sadly died in 2018,
05:06but many of the show's original cast members returned for the reboot,
05:09including John Larroquette, who plays lawyer Dan Fielding. Rauch gushed about her co-star
05:14on Late Night with Seth Meyers, describing their relationship as having a major imbalance.
05:19"'He's just a powerful presence. Me, on the other hand, I hang on him
05:23like I am an elf on the shelf.'"
05:26Rauch has also revealed that her kids now think she's a judge in real life,
05:29and that she hasn't bothered to correct them.
05:32"'They've seen the posters for it. They're like, Mom's a judge. I'm like, yes I am.'"
05:37Melissa Rauch may not be a judge in real life, but she is qualified to officiate weddings.
05:42In fact, it was interacting with the live studio audience on Night Court that inspired her decision
05:47to become ordained. She told The Talk,
05:49"'What I like to do is go out into the studio audience and marry our audience members,
05:53which is so exciting. I just feel bad because I never told them I'm not ordained,
05:58so there might be people operating as such, and if that's the case, I apologize.
06:02But if we get a season two, I will be ordained, and then you could come back.'"
06:06Luckily, the show was renewed, and Rauch made good on her promise.
06:10"'For our hiatus, I officially got ordained so that I can actually marry people
06:14in our audience or —'
06:15"'Have you married anyone?'
06:16"'I have!''