Among the many many standout characters on “The Huge Bang Principle” is Amy (Mayim Bialik), who was launched within the season 3 finale as the one girl on the planet who might probably be a viable love curiosity for Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). Launched as robotic and blunt, Amy seems to not simply be one of many solely characters who can match Sheldon’s freak, however she additionally proves important to softening Sheldon up and turning him right into a slighter kinder, barely more healthy particular person. Though Penny (Kaley Cuoco) might be the largest catalyst for Sheldon’s development over the sequence, the significance of Amy for Sheldon’s character arc cannot be overstated. Nonetheless, her position on the sequence was very almost minimize quick.
“After my episode within the season three finale, I actually thought my character may by no means come again,” Bialik stated in a 2022 interview. “I had been out of the business for thus lengthy … it actually might have gone both means … There was some destructive consideration once I joined the forged as a result of some individuals held Sheldon very close to and pricey to them and did not need him to vary or develop into a tacky boyfriend.” Author/showrunner Steven Molaro elaborated on this in the identical interview:
“We, within the writers room, had been into it, however we did not know the place it was going to go. We did not know they had been to have a second date, or how that was going to play out and maintain evolving by means of the years. However we went into it like we do with all additions to the present and all of the characters: We’re hopeful and attempting to do our greatest to make it develop into one thing higher and fascinating; that was a type of that clearly did. However it took a short time to shake off the ‘feminine Sheldon’ description and let her develop into her personal particular person.”
As followers recall, Amy very a lot did develop into her personal particular person all through the sequence, evolving to develop into a extra beloved (and extra fascinating) character in a means that few followers noticed coming. Loads of this would not have occurred with out the assistance of Jim Parsons.
Parson was Amy’s largest defender
“In some unspecified time in the future in season 4 — I do not know if one thing induced it or not — I bear in mind saying to [producer] Todd [Spiewak], ‘I cannot let this character go with no combat.’ That was notable for me, solely in that I virtually by no means disagreed with the writers,” Parsons defined. “However in some unspecified time in the future I felt a sure means about working with Mayim that I used to be like, ‘If for no matter motive we gave the impression to be weaning her off of this present as a personality, I might go and speak to them.'”
This angle might have helped pave the best way for Amy being upgraded to a sequence common in season 4, a present resolution that took the actress without warning. “The week that I used to be supplied a daily contract, I had advised my supervisor, ‘I believe that is my final episode; I believe they’re carried out with me and have carried out all they wish to do with my character.'” As a substitute, it turned out they had been simply getting began.
“I do know on the audition they stated they wanted a feminine model of Sheldon, mainly, however that is untenable long-term,” Parsons defined. “There was no alternative however to evolve the character.” Certain sufficient, Amy’s preliminary “feminine Sheldon” persona turned out to be a misdirect; sure, she actually was that nerdy and awkward at first, however not like Sheldon she had a robust, real need to attach with different individuals. As soon as she received herself an precise pal group, particularly with Penny and Bernadette, she proved herself to be a little bit of a social butterfly, at the very least by Sheldon’s requirements. Certain, she generally makes use of Penny as an unwitting take a look at topic in her experiments (for disgrace!) however she’s nonetheless extra emotionally clever than Sheldon.
Why Parsons thinks Amy labored so properly
For Parsons, a giant key to Amy’s success was not simply the writers’ willingness to evolve her into somebody extra fascinating, however in the best way they did not wait till the final minute to introduce her. “The writers didn’t let the properly run dry earlier than they had been like, ‘Oh God, ought to we undertake a child? Ought to we usher in a monkey?’ You already know what I imply? They plugged these individuals in to see what was going to work and the way it could work, and I assumed it was genius.”
In most different reveals, the seemingly-asexual Sheldon getting a girlfriend is one thing the writers would till wait a lot later to throw in. If that they had, the storyline might’ve felt like a determined try to maintain the present recent, like Joey getting a crush on Rachel seven seasons into “Associates” or “The Pretty Oddparents” season 10 immediately forcing Timmy to share his fairy godparents with new character Chloe. As a substitute, “The Huge Bang Principle” threw Amy into the present proper in the course of the sequence’ strongest years, projecting confidence and incomes some much-needed goodwill from these viewers who had been skeptical a couple of Sheldon romance storyline.
Though Amy is not fairly as pivotal as another main sitcom characters who had been launched surprisingly late within the sport, like Danny DeVito’s Frank in “At all times Sunny” season 2 or Adam Scott’s Ben Wyatt in “Parks and Rec,” she’s nonetheless a formidable instance of easy methods to shake up a present’s established order in a recent, daring means. By the point “Huge Bang Principle” resulted in season 12, it was arduous to imagine there was ever a time the place Amy wasn’t round.