Within a few weeks of its launch in 2007, The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) went on to become a runaway hit. The Golden Globe award winning series has just added the Lammy Hibbert best comedy show for 2012 to its kitty. The series centers around five characters-two physicists and roomates Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper(Jim Parsons), and their friends Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Nayyar who plays an astrophysicist, gets talking about himself and his character who suffers from selective mutism — it takes a shot of alcohol to get him to speak to women. More from the actor himself:
I came to the US when I was 18. Since marketing sounded fun, I joined business school. But I was very lonely because I didn’t have any friends. I thought why not audition for a play and meet some people. But at that point I didn’t know I would end up acting. I was terrible. I remember the acting coach at university saying, ‘why don’t you take some acting lessons from me?’. I took the class and fell in love with the craft.
For the role , I looked at people in my life who emulated characteristics of Raj. I also brought something from my life. I remember what it was like to be in a room full of people while being from a different country. I would look at myself in the mirror and ask how I would behave in a room with someone whom I am very nervous around.
Raj is like a child. I connect to him and enjoy looking at the world through him. On our show, we make fun of all cultures: Jewish, American and Indian. Like I constantly say, all white people look the same. It’s not like we are zeroing on Indians. We make fun of everything and that’s what comedy is all about.
It’s a good time for Indian actors to enter Hollywood. You will see one in every two or three shows has an Indian character. It’s amazing that actors like Aziz Ansari and Dev Patel are doing so well. It makes me feel really proud to know such talented actors. I plan to do TBBT for two more seasons. After that I’m goin to take a year off to play golf !
The Big Bang Theory airs on Zee Cafe, weekdays, at 7.30 pm.