Though she was initially meant for a small role, Jim Parsons reveals he was prepared to fight for Mayim Bialik's Amy to stay on The Big Bang Theory.
Jim Parsons recalls having to fight to keep Mayim Bialik as Amy on The Big Bang Theory. The series centered on two scientists named Leonard and Sheldon whose lives are uprooted by the arrival of their next door neighbor, a pretty young woman named Penny, and form an unlikely bond with her. As The Big Bang Theory progressed, so did the relationships between the characters. The stoic Sheldon, who was considered very difficult to get along with, eventually found a love interest in Amy Farrah Fowler in what would eventually become one of the most endearing romances on the show.
Bialik has enjoyed a very interesting and storied career. She started acting as a child back in the '80s and grew into older roles. Besides that, she also majored in neuroscience and earned her PhD in 2007, juggling both her academic and entertainment careers side-by-side. Her scientific knowledge primed her for The Big Bang Theory, a role that was written around her due to her experience. Bialik first guest starred in the season 3 finale. By that point in the series, it was not known if Sheldon would have a love interest, and the character of Amy was created as a joke. However, that would later change.
In an excerpt from the new book, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, via EW, Parsons reveals that he fought to keep Bialik as a regular on the show. Amy was supposed to be a one-off character. Writer Steve Molaro came up with the concept of Sheldon getting paired up on a dating site while series co-creator Chuck Lorre pushed for the idea, despite the possibility that viewers would react negatively to the new character. It didn't take long for Parsons to become quite attached to the Amy character, as he explains:
And at some point in season four—I don't know if something caused it or not—I remember saying to Todd, "I will not let this character go without a fight." That was notable for me, only in that I almost never disagreed with the writers.
But at some point I felt a certain way about working with Mayim that I was like, If for whatever reason we seemed to be weaning her off of this show as a character, I would go and talk to them. I said this years ago, but I believe it even more now that one of the smartest things that the writers room ever did was introduce Bernadette and Amy at a point where, as far as interests and storylines go, we did not need them yet... They plugged these people in to see what was going to work and how it would work, and I thought it was genius.