00s sitcom star unrecognisable five years after show ended

A star of one of the biggest sitcoms of the past decade looks unrecognisable after growing a beard.

From 2007 until 2019, Jim Parsons played Sheldon Cooper in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

During his time on the show, he became the world’s highest-paid TV actor and is now worth an estimated $160 million (£123,000,000).  

He also won four Primetime Emmy Awards for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series and the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a television series musical or comedy.

While on the sitcom, Jim was known for having a clean-shaven look, but this week he stepped out and showed off a thick beard.

The 51-year-old attended the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City where he also spoke about his facial hair.

‘I grew it knowing that I was going to go into the play,’ he told Entertainment Tonight of growing his beard ahead of his Broadway role in Our Town alongside Katie Holmes and Zoey Deutch.

‘The play didn’t need it. Long story short, I had a talk with my barber. I was like, “You always have a beard”, and he was like, “Well, I kind of have a weak chin”.’

After realising a beard could ‘changed the shape of your face’, Jim then decided he ‘wanted to try it’.

Although Jim has also appeared in several Broadway productions and in films and TV shows including Hidden Figures, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and the Netflix series Hollywood, he is best known for playing Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory.

However, in 2021 the show’s creator revealed Jim very nearly wasn’t cast.

Bill Prady, who co-created the comedy with Chuck Lorre, said they almost decided to turn Jim down after his audition.

Speaking on the At Home with the Creative Coalition podcast, Bill said that Chuck wasn’t sure Jim was right at first, and that the show almost went in a very different direction.

‘We saw — oh God, I don’t know, 100 people?’ Bill said, discussing the extensive audition process.

‘And when Jim Parsons came in, he was Sheldon on a level. There were people who came in and you went, “Okay, well, he’s kind of okay,” “Oh, he’s pretty good,” “Maybe he’s the guy.”

‘Jim came in and he was just… from that audition, he was the Sheldon that you saw on television,’

Bill went on to say: ‘[Jim] created that character at that audition and he left the room and I turned and I went, “That’s the guy! That’s the guy! That’s the guy!”

‘And Chuck turned, and he said, “Nah, he’s gonna break your heart. He’ll never give you that performance again.”’

However, Bill did manage to eventually convince his co-creator that Jim was right for the part and the rest is history.

The Big Bang Theory is streaming on Channel 4 and Netflix.

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