The Big Bang Theory guest star recurred as Leonard

When it comes to The Big Bang Theory, there are a whole bunch of stories about the wild casting process. Although Simon Helberg eventually earned the lead role of Howard Wolowitz, Kevin Sussman almost booked it… and played comic book owner Stuart Bloom in the show anyway.. Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj Koothrappali throughout the series, was almost fired before filming beganand Kaley Cuoco replaced the show's original female lead with her character Penny. Johnny Galecki played Leonard Hofstadter throughout the show's 12 seasons (and 12 years), but before he came along, John Ross Bowie auditioned. Like Sussman, he ended up in a recurring role … with a twist.

in a 2017 interview with SpectrumBowie told the outlet that he did audition for Leonard, but understood why Galecki got it. “They saw almost every nerd in Los Angeles for the two leads, and I actually read for Leonard,” Bowie recalled. “When I found out (Johnny) Galecki got it, I was uncharacteristically not offended! I didn't know him, but I was familiar with his work and felt he was a good fit for the role.”

Here's the twist: Creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were looking for a very a specific type of actor. “They were looking for a (recurring) 'villain,' and Chuck remembered me,” Bowie said. “I originally played the character as an alpha nerd bully, but Chuck and Bill thought he should be vulnerable, so Chuck suggested a speech impediment. I tried something subtle, but it came out in Elmer Fudd's voice.”

The voice for the character who eventually became Barry Kripke, a plasma physicist and string theorist working at the Caltech Institute with Leonard, Howard, Ray and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), came about as a simple suggestion, and apparently, although Bowie told The Spectrum , which he thought was a bit much, but Chuck Lorre really liked it. “Chuck had a very specific laugh and started giggling,” Bowie recalls of his audition. “I started work the next day.”

Technically, Barry Kripke suffers from a speech disorder known as “rotacism,” which is characterized by a person having trouble with the “R” sound (which is why Elmer Fudd from “Looney Tunes” was brought into the conversation because he has the same question). However, Bowie told The Spectrum that he thinks Barry's speech impediment is probably the least interesting thing about the character because it doesn't define him at all. “For all his flaws, Kripke is not a loser and is incredibly smart, so I think there's something fundamentally empowering about the character,” Bowie said, even saying Barry “wins more than he loses” when it comes to his rivalry with Sheldon.

John Ross Bowie didn't just help Barry Kripke come up with the voice during his audition, he did everything character changed a bit when Bowie came on board. In Jessica Radloff's 2022 book, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, Bowie told Radloff the same story he told The Spectrum, that he auditioned for Leonard, lost the part to Johnny Galecki, but realized and then improvised a voice during the audition that sealed his fate (in a good way) but added a few details … including the fact that a famous “Star The “Trek” actor stopped that audition.

After making Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady laugh with his “Elmer Fudd” voice, Bowie recalls, “Then there was a knock on the door and somebody poked their head in and said, 'Chuck, Leonard Nimoy's calling.' : “Listen, we just met, but you should probably listen to it, luckily it didn't affect Bowie's audition a bit.” changed to accommodate his cold reading: “And half an hour later I'm driving home and I get a call that I'm scheduled to appear at Warner Bros. the next day. they want to keep the speech impediment,” Bowie recalled. “They've also changed the character's name to Barry because it sounds funnier with the speech impediment.” Bowie immediately went to work, and the rest is history.

“The Big Bang Theory,” including all of Bowie's best moments as Barry Kripke, is now streaming on Max.