The Big Bang Theory has been off the air for over a year now, but if you’ve been longing for answers as to why the show called it quits, we’ve finally got some.
While 12 seasons is more than most shows ever get, fans were left reeling when certain members of the cast decided it was time to pull the plug.
Related: Ruby Rose Explains The REAL Reason She Quit Batwoman!
The end began when Jim Parsons, who won FOUR Emmys for his leading role as awkward genius Sheldon Cooper, decided he wouldn’t return to the show if it was renewed for a 13th season. The network clearly decided it couldn’t continue without the obscenely popular “Bazinga”-slinging physicist, and so Big Bang came to a close. (Not before launching a successful spin off called Young Sheldon.)
So why did he feel the need to go??
In an appearance on David Tennant Does a Podcast With… with David Tennant (who knows a thing or two about leaving behind a beloved fan-favorite character), Parsons provided some context to his decision to take a bow. The actor had an inkling he might be through after signing his contract for the final two seasons, but it was “a very intense summer” after filming season 11 that pushed him over the edge.
He explained:
“It was a complicated road, as you can imagine. We went through the 11th season, and then that summer, I went to New York to do ‘Boys in the Band’ on Broadway, and I think anything I felt got really affirmed… It was a very intense summer. Partly because of the part and the experience of doing the play, but more because [I was so busy].”
The Hollywood star went straight from the show to the play and on his first day off had to do his third job — Intel pitchman:
“On that Sunday that I had my first day off, I shot a commercial. I had a contract with Intel and so I scheduled that. I was exhausted.
That lack of time off left him really burnt out, especially because it coincided with the loss of his beloved dog. Emotionally, he continued:
“I was exhausted, and I was really upset about one of our dogs was getting really at the end of his life around then. I’ll never forget that walk around the park to let him go to the bathroom before we went for the commercial shoot. He just looked so bad, and I was so tired, and [my husband] Todd was like … ‘we gotta go, we’ve scheduled this, they’ve fit everything around your schedule.’ And I just started crying. It makes me upset now. I was like, ‘This dog’s gonna die while I’m off working. I feel so bad.'”
Within three days, the couple had to put their dog down; by the end of the week, Parsons had suffered an on-stage injury and broke his foot. Through tears, he recalled:
“It was the scariest moment for the next couple of days because… I felt like I was at the edge of a cliff and I was teetering and I saw something really dark below, between the death of the dog and [the fact that] I don’t know what they would’ve done if I couldn’t have gotten back on for the play.”
Related: Joey King Talks The Awkwardness Of Kissing Ex Jacob Elordi Onscreen
Elder Sheldon, who was 46 at the time, was also reflecting on the passing of his father — who had died at just 52. That, compounded with the events of the summer, gave Parsons the “moment of clarity” he needed to make the decision. When he returned to LA and sat down with Big Bang bosses Chuck Lorre and Steve Molaro, he shared:
“I said, ‘If you told me that like my father I had six years left to live, I think there’s other things I need to try and do. I don’t know what they are, but I can tell that I need to try.’ … It was kind of clarity thrust upon you, as Shakespeare might have said … I was like, ‘OK. Let’s take charge here.’ And so that’s exactly what happened.”
Well, there you have it folks. Parsons has nothing but praise for his Big Bang castmates, but clearly he needed a change. And after 12 years of Sheldon Cooper, we can’t say we blame him!
[Image via Sheri Determan/WENN & TBS/YouTube]
The post Jim Parsons Cries Recalling The Week That Made Him Quit <i>Big Bang Theory</i> appeared first on Perez Hilton.