Kaley Cuoco Says She’d ‘Absolutely’ Play ‘Big Bang Theory’s Penny Again
Kaley Cuoco is ready to bring Penny Hofstadter back to screen, saying she’d happily join some sort of Big Bang Theory revival.
“I spent 12 years playing that role, and it really set off my career,” Cuoco tells People in a new interview. “I owe a lot to that character, to that show, to [creator] Chuck Lorre. It was some of the best years of my life, and some of the most fun I’ve ever had. … I would absolutely reprise that role. 100 percent.”
On The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco’s Penny is an aspiring actor who moves into a Pasadena apartment across the hall from nerdy physicists Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar were other original stars of the show, playing scientists Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali, respectively. Later cast additions included Sara Gilbert, Melissa Rauch, Mayim Bialik, Kevin Sussman, and Laura Spencer.
Michael Yarish/CBS
The sitcom became a big hit for CBS, eventually becoming the No. 1 show on broadcast TV with more than 18 million viewers for its 2017-2018 season, and it won 10 Emmy Awards across 55 nominations. For her role on the show, Cuoco landed two People’s Choice Awards, a Critics Choice Television Award, a Satellite Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
More recently, Cuoco led the cast of the Max comedy thriller The Flight Attendant, earning three Emmy nominations for that series. Now the actor, who’s engaged to Ozark star Tom Pelphrey, is voicing the title character in the Max animated series Harley Quinn and starring in the Peacock comedy thriller Based on a True Story.
In other Big Bang Theory news, Max is prepping a spinoff starring Sussman alongside fellow alums Brian Posehn and Lauren Lapkus. Sussman will once again play comic store owner Stuart Bloom, Lapkus will play store coworker-turned-girlfriend Denise, and Posehn will play Caltech professor Bert Kibbler.
Meanwhile, CBS just debuted Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, a sequel to the Big Bang Theory prequel series Young Sheldon. Georgie & Mandy’s series premiere on Thursday, October 17, scored 6.56 million total viewers, more than any other broadcast show that night, per TV Series Finale.
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