Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard can always be counted upon to supply their comedic two cents on a slew of nerdy pop-culture items, from the panned Green Lantern movie to the worth of an Apple Store Genius. But there’s one piece of huge (HUGE!) geeky entertainment news that the Big Bang Theory guys have yet to weigh in on: Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm and the promise of more Star Wars movies, starting with Episode VII in an expected 2015 release.
So at The Big Bang Theory‘s PaleyFest panel on Wednesday (read our full report of the event here), EW asked the stars of the show how they imagine their characters would have reacted to the news that had millions of voices not at all silenced but crying out with both glee and skepticism.
Many of Big Bang‘s actors speculated their characters’ reactions to Disney’s announcement would miror their own, including Johnny Galecki (Leonard). After telling EW that the increasing ratings success for The Big Bang Theory continues to inspire the show’s talent to work harder, Galecki saw a similar high bar to reach in the Lucasfilm camp. “I think Leonard would be very excited, as I personally am very excited. I was obsessed with Star Wars growing up and still am to a certain degree,” Galecki said. “But there might be some concern. There might be some worry that it might not be — speaking of high bars to meet, for these guys, that’s a tough nut to crack. [Fans are] going to be critical no matter what.”
Mayim Bialik noted that Amy, who has always been decidedly into science but not science fiction, wouldn’t be the least bit excited by the news, but she said, “I think Sheldon would be the most skeptical about the corporate, commercial aspects.”
Kunal Nayyar (Raj) also found his character’s feelings meshing with his own: a certain ambivalence. “There’s excitement because anything is going to be better than [the prequels], and there’s also apprehension,” he said. “I love Star Wars. My dog’s name is Boba Fett, but even when I was watching it [recently with my wife, who’d never seen it and quickly fell asleep], I was like, ‘It’s a little dated.’ But I love it that way. I don’t know if a new one is going to be good, and I don’t know if Raj thinks it would be good.”
Simon Helberg (Howard) acknowledged that the news of a coming sequel likely would leave the guys with mixed feelings. “I can only imagine that there was an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm and also criticism [among these characters]. Probably the criticism will come from Sheldon,” Helberg said. “I think it’s going to be a mixed bag. It’s gotta be a moment that they’ve been waiting for forever, but then you gotta factor in the new people, the new faces, and they have a lot to say about that, as most fans do. It’ll be fun. I’m sure it’ll be addressed at some point.”
And indeed, co-creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre told EW that the subject of new Star Wars movies will find its way into the conversation of a certain quartet of Pasadena nerds, but most likely not this season. “It’s definitely a conversation in the writers room, so it’ll wind up in the show,” he said. “I think we’re gonna wait a little while. It’s one of those things, as we get closer and closer to the next movie coming out — this isn’t going away. This is a big story.”
And what does Sheldon’s real-life alter-ego have to say about this? Well, somehow the busy Emmy winner seems to have missed out on the news. When EW asked Jim Parsons how Sheldon may have reacted to the announcement that more Star Wars movies will be made, he said, “I don’t know anything about this!” with a sweet, sheepish smile (not at all like Sheldon’s manic smile). But Parsons has no doubt he’ll get up to date on the news and settle into Sheldon’s feelings about the idea of taking another journey to a galaxy far, far away when the topic ends up in his script: “If they’ll write it, I’ll figure this s— out,” he said.
