Even after twelve seasons of The Big Bang Theory, fans couldn’t let go of the show. They were holding onto the characters more tightly than ever. This even led Jim Parsons to lend his voice to the spin-off show Young Sheldon, despite quickly wrapping up his 2007 sitcom.
The new spin-off series hired Iain Armitage to play the role of young Sheldon Cooper. And Jim Parsons was totally taken aback by the child actor’s audition who was only 8 years old back then. Thus, Pearson fondly reflected upon Armitage’s audition tape on several occasions.
Jim Parsons Was Stunned by Iain Armitage’s Audition
After the creators of The Big Bang Theory ended the show in a hurry, fans took a lot of time to overcome the absence of their favorite characters. And while fans almost healed from missing most of the characters, they couldn’t overcome the absence of Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper. This led creators to come up with a spin-off, Young Sheldon in 2017.
While Jim Parsons lent his voice to the spin-off, Iain Armitage appeared in the lead role of young Sheldon Cooper. During the auditions, Parsons once met the child actor who was 8 years old, back then, and immediately grew fond of his young counterpart. Thereafter, Parsons even spoke about Armitage’s casting on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“They wrote the most trial by fire lengthy horrible, not horrible, it was funny, but it’s like a two-page monologue. And all these kids are coming in with it, and they were all really good. But Iain…his tape came in and it was just kind of mind-blowing.”
“I thought he looks really young but he must be like 13 or something, to be like do this. He was 8. He is such a man child, he thinks like a man but then he’s just a kid.”
Jim Parsons fondly shared the memory of Iain Armitage’s audition and stunned the audience with the story.
Similarities Between Jim Parsons And Iain Armitage
This story about Iain Armitage’s audition reminded a lot of fans about the uncanny similarities between the child actor and Jim Parsons. Both the actors were under immense pressure since Armitage was the lead actor in Young Sheldon and Parsons had the responsibility to make Sheldon one of the most popular characters in comedy history.
Just like Jim Parsons was taken aback by Iain Armitage‘s audition tape, even The Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre was stunned by Parsons’ performance. The way the actor described Armitage’s audition, Lorre previously credited Parsons in the same way, after his audition via ET.
“He walked out of the room, and I didn’t believe what we had just seen. It was remarkable.”
Thus, with such uncanny similarities between the young Sheldon and the OG Sheldon Cooper, fans were right to expect plenty of treats from Iain Armitage in the spin-off series. And certainly, despite the pressure, Armitage delivered a phenomenal performance and managed to convince people to believe that’s how Jim Parsons’ character must have behaved in his childhood.
Watch Young Sheldon on CBS.
