Young Sheldon’s George actor, Lance Barber, talks about previously playing a different character in The Big Bang Theory, Leonard’s high school bully.
Lance Barber talks about playing George on Young Sheldon after previously portraying another character on The Big Bang Theory. In an effort to capitalize on the popularity of the geek-centric sitcom, CBS launched the first and still only spinoff in 2017. But instead of only focusing on Sheldon, the prequel Young Sheldon also puts substantial focus on the rest of his family.
The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon are meant to exist in the same reality. Despite this, many argue that may not be the case, given the several plot inconsistencies between the comedies. Through the years, the prequel show has addressed some plot holes, but its biggest one remains – Young Sheldon‘s version of George. In the CBS spinoff, George is a committed family man, contradicting older Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Mary’s (Laurie Metcalf) stories of him being a lazy, drunk dad. This isn’t the only issue with George, however, as Barber has also previously appeared on The Big Bang Theory playing Leonard’s high school bully, Jimmy Speckerman.
After five seasons of playing Sheldon’s dad on Young Sheldon, Barber addresses having two different characters in the franchise in a new interview with ET Online. The actor says that, when he was cast as George in the prequel, he knew that his past as Jimmy Speckerman would be a topic of conversation. He also debunks theories that because of this, Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory don’t exist in the same reality. Read his full answer below:
It was fun for me because when that happened and I got that job, it was apparent to me that that was going to be noticed, especially from how deep the fans are of those shows. So it wasn’t going to go unmissed by the fandom. […] I’ve heard some and there’s been some weird stuff like is this is this a multidimensional universe. It’s nonsense. It’s an actor playing a different part!
Recently, Barber’s The Big Bang Theory character became a hot topic once again, after Young Sheldon season 5 finale brought in renowned magicians Penn and Teller to personify Sheldon’s pimple. The Big Bang Theory fans would remember that Teller plays a different character in the geek-centric sitcom, having appeared as Amy’s father, Larry Fowler. This time, however, this doesn’t create any plot hole, because Acne appeared exclusively in Sheldon’s dream, while both of Barber’s characters existed in real life. Until now, CBS hasn’t addressed this, and considering the fact that there’s really no easy workaround for this, chances are that the network doesn’t have any plans to do so. Fans will just have to accept the casting as it is.
While Barber was quick to dismiss the idea that Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory exist in different realities, this may actually be a good idea for the sake of his current show. Given the geek-centric sitcom’s established continuity, its prequel is forced to follow it, instead of coming up with its own story. George, in particular, is most vulnerable to this given the shows’ contradicting depiction of the Cooper patriarch.
Source: ET Online
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