Johnny Galecki made Leonard Hofstadter one of The Big Bang Theory's most lovable characters, but he wasn't the only one up for the role — and luckily, one of actors who lost out ended up winning a supporting part.
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00:00The Big Bang Theory's casting shake-ups are pretty well-known. Kevin Sussman, who plays
00:04comic shop owner Stuart, was almost cast as Howard Wolowitz. Kaley Cuoco was a replacement
00:09for a character who flopped in the pilot, and Kunal Nayyar was almost fired by CBS before
00:14filming started. Johnny Galecki ended up playing Leonard Hofstadter for the show's entire 12-season
00:19run, but before he came on board, John Ross Bowie auditioned for the part. Like Sussman,
00:24he ended up scoring a recurring role.
00:26Hello, everyone. I brought my new friend, Barry Kripke, home for dinner.
00:31Aww.
00:32In a 2017 interview with The Spectrum, Bowie recalled that he auditioned for Leonard,
00:37but understood why Galecki got it.
00:38They were seeing pretty much every nerd in L.A. for the two main roles,
00:41and I actually read for the part of Leonard. When I found out Johnny Galecki got it,
00:45I was uncharacteristically not resentful. I didn't know him, but was familiar with his work
00:50and felt he was a good match for the role. Later, when creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were
00:54looking for a very specific type of villain character, Lorre remembered Bowie, who recalled,
00:59Initially, I played the character as an alpha nerd bully, but Chuck and Bill thought he should
01:03have some vulnerability, so Chuck suggested a speech impediment. I tried something subtle,
01:08but what came out was this Elmer Fudd voice.
01:10You're still, surprise, surprise, a woozer.
01:14The distinctive voice for the character that ultimately became Barry Kripke came out of
01:18that simple suggestion, and even though Bowie told The Spectrum that he thought it was a bit much,
01:23Lorre really loved it. Chuck has this very specific laugh and began giggling,
01:27I started work the next day. Bowie continued with his thoughts about the character,
01:30noting that he thinks Kripke's speech impediment is probably the least interesting thing about him,
01:35in that it doesn't define him at all.
01:37Siri, can you recommend a West wine?
01:42I'm sorry, Bowie.
01:44In his ongoing war with Sheldon Cooper, Kripke comes out on top more often than not. For all
01:48his flaws, Kripke is not a loser and is incredibly smart, so I think there's something fundamentally
01:53empowering about the character. Not only did Bowie help come up with a voice for Kripke
01:57during his audition, but the entire character shifted a bit when he came on board.
02:01In Jessica Radloff's 2022 book The Big Bang Theory, the definitive inside story of the
02:06epic hit series, Bowie added some interesting details about his audition, including the
02:10fact that it was interrupted. Bowie recalls,
02:12There was a knock on the door, and someone sticks their head in and goes,
02:15Chuck, there's a phone call from Leonard Nimoy.
02:17Normally, if I get my f-----g audition interrupted, I'm livid. This time I was like,
02:21Listen, we just met, but you should probably go take that.
02:24Nimoy ended up making an appearance on the show, though in voice only.
02:28Hello again, Sheldon.
02:32What is it now, tiny Spock?
02:34Luckily, the interruption didn't affect Bowie's audition at all. He continued,
02:38And then like half an hour later, I'm driving home, and I get the call that I'm supposed to
02:41show up at Warner Brothers the next day, and they want to keep the speech impediment. They've also
02:45changed the character's name to Barry, because it sounds funnier with the speech impediment.
02:49Bowie went to work right away, and the rest is history.