Jim Parsons says he was ‘miserable’ during height of The Big Bang Theory
Jim Parsons played The Big bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper for 12 seasons. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Jim Parsons has opened up about his mental health at the height of his fame, admitting he was often “stressed” and “miserable” during his time on The Big Bang Theory.
The actor, 53, who played Sheldon Cooper across 12 seasons of the hit CBS sitcom, made the comments on the All Out with Jon Dean podcast.
“I look back now and realise that there were many ways, at some of the best moments of my life, I was miserable,” Parsons said. “I was not happy. I was stressed.”
He explained that he had felt an overwhelming pressure to keep everything going: “I wouldn’t do that again and for any amount of money, because it was stressful and miserable at times. I made myself miserable.”
Parsons attributed much of it to “obsessive behaviour” that was “OCD in nature”, revealing he stayed sober for nine years during filming as a “conscious decision” to focus on the show.
But he said his relationship with the role was evolving: “It gets better all the time. What I feel is better, what I feel is healthier,” he said, adding that his reflections were “not a complaint”, adding: “I wouldn’t be where I am right now if I hadn’t had that time of life.”
Jim Parsons’ career
While The Big Bang Theory was the springboard for Jim Parsons’ career, he’d had a number of smaller previous roles in film and television.
Since then, he has had a number of other roles, including in Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood in 2020, which was released on Netflix and looked at the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Parsons played a fictionalised version of Hollywood talent agent Henry Wilson, whose client was Rock Hudson.
Hudson, who was gay and was sadly the first major American star to die from an AIDS-related illness, was played by Jake Picking. The series also featured the likes of David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope, Holland Taylor and Samara Weaving.
Parsons returned to the role of Sheldon, as a narrator, for spin-of series Young Sheldon between 2017 and 2024.
He has also had a number of theatre roles, most recently in camp parody production Titanique.
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