Well-liked sitcoms do not earn that moniker by having underwhelming or unlikable casts — and clearly, the 5 unique leads of “The Massive Bang Principle” helped catapult Chuck Lorre’s CBS comedy to unbelievable success. In line with an oral historical past of the collection, although, Kunal Nayyar, who performed Raj Koothrappalli for your complete present, was basically fired by community executives earlier than they began capturing … and Lorre needed to go to bat for the actor.
In “The Massive Bang Principle: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Collection” by Jessica Radloff, Lorre recalled that he flew from Los Angeles to New York for upfronts solely to find that Nayyar was nowhere to be discovered. At that time, Lorre says that, in the midst of his cross-country flight, a higher-up at CBS determined that Nayyar simply wasn’t the suitable selection and that they’d discover another person to play Raj.
“Nicely, I didn’t reply properly,” Lorre stated. “I used to be livid. They made this determination with out consulting me. […] I known as the execs at CBS and stated, ‘You’ll be able to’t hearth him. I forged him. I imagine in him, I will take duty for this determination. He is my man.’ If I will fail, I will fail alone selections. I am not going to fail on another person’s selections I wasn’t about to recast that half as a result of another person decided.”
Chuck Lorre fought for Kunal Nayyar to stay on The Massive Bang Principle – and received
Johnny Galecki, who additionally spoke to Jessica Radloff for the guide, stated that your complete vibe was thrown off at upfronts because of each Kunal Nayyar’s absence and the obvious fracas over doubtlessly changing him. “It felt very odd that we had been lacking a forged member on the upfronts,” Galecki remembered, talking for fellow castmates Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Simon Helberg. “All of us felt terribly awkward and annoyed and helpless as a result of we did not know what that meant for the present. However largely we had been actually feeling for Kunal.”
As for Chuck Lorre, he reached out to a “distraught” Nayyar and reassured him that he was nonetheless part of “The Massive Bang Principle” — and, in his recollection, stated that he felt answerable for the situations that led to CBS asking for a brand new Raj Koothrappalli. “I instructed him to not fear about it, we might get this found out,” Lorre stated of his dialog with Nayyar earlier than admitting that he and the present’s inventive crew had been combating Raj’s character. “We had a greater deal with on Sheldon and Leonard and Wolowitz, and so if something, Kunal suffered not from his personal inabilities, however from ours. We needed to uncover his character. And we did. Past our wildest desires. He turned an excellent, fantastic voice of the ensemble. You’ll be able to’t think about the present with out him.”
Kunal Nayyar had a particularly emotional response when he booked The Massive Bang Principle
As for Kunal Nayyar himself, he was devastated at the concept that he may lose “The Massive Bang Principle,” however was reassured that Chuck Lorre had his again. Finally, all of it labored out. As Nayyar instructed Jessica Radloff, he would not know what precisely Lorre did, however on the finish of June 2007, he was on the point of transfer flats when his agent known as and stated he was formally part of “The Massive Bang Principle” — which prompted a swell of feelings. “And I keep in mind falling on the ground in my condominium on my knees and weeping. Simply weeping. As a result of it had been virtually forty-five days of not realizing. And that is a really tough place to be in.”
“Wanting again, it is not private,” Nayyar stated of the entire state of affairs; clearly, time and distance have given him some severe perspective on your complete ordeal. He additionally feels grateful that somebody as skilled and revered as Lorre had his again throughout a irritating time: “I used to be a child out of graduate college. From the prospect of a community about to spend money on no matter they’re about to speculate right into a challenge, I’ve no expertise they usually solely know me from this one audition. Would you’re taking an opportunity on me? To me, it was simply one other factor that I needed to show myself. However Chuck fought for me. He believed in me.”
Taking part in Raj on The Massive Bang Principle modified Kunal Nayyar’s profession – however was it price it?
Okay, sure — in a bigger sense, enjoying Raj Koothrappalli on “The Massive Bang Principle” was price it for Kunal Nayyar, who earned a ton of cash for the function (He is additionally in all probability nonetheless raking in money from syndication when you think about that TBS is principally “The Massive Bang Principle Channel” for anybody who nonetheless has cable). That stated, let’s check out Raj — as a result of regardless of Chuck Lorre’s insistence that they “found out” what to do with the character, it would not all the time really feel prefer it. When the collection begins, Raj is simply one of many 4 most important nerdy guys, however he has the strangest and most unsettling quirk of any of them: he has selective mutism, and he can solely converse to members of the other intercourse whereas he is extraordinarily drunk. That attribute ebbs and flows all through the present — he is ultimately capable of open his mouth and say phrases within the presence of Kaley Cuoco’s Penny, as an illustration — however it’s a very uncomfortable trait.
Then there’s Raj’s ending. As everybody else ends “The Massive Bang Principle” married, with youngsters, anticipating youngsters, or profitable Nobel Prizes, Raj’s story simply … ends. He is single, regardless of being the present’s resident hopeless romantic, and his solo ending is performed extra for laughs than the rest. Raj and Nayyar each deserved higher from the present, however it would not appear to be the actor has any laborious emotions.
