Jim Parsons began his career on stage before gaining fame as one of the highest-paid TV actors, playing the role of Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. Now, the actor opens up about the price he paid on the rise to fame.
The CBS sitcom put Parsons on the map throughout its 12-season run on the air, which led him to win four Primetime Emmy Awards. While many actors would relish the fame and the stardom, Parsons admitted during an appearance on All Out with Jon Dean that he sacrificed a lot emotionally, which led him to be unhappy.
“I look back now and realize that there were many ways, at some of the best moments of my life, I was miserable,” Parsons said. “I was not happy. I was stressed.”
“I felt that there was so many plates I was supposed to be keeping in the air and that the success and the good things of life that were happening were only due to this overworking … discipline and whatever. And maybe to a degree that was true. I don’t know.”
Playing Sheldon on the hit series wasn’t an easy task based on the character’s mannerisms, and Parsons acknowledges that his intense discipline contributed to his success on the sitcom. At the same time, he believes it was his downfall due to putting constant pressure on himself.
The Big Bang Theory became a big part of Parsons’ jumpstart in his career, but he admits that he “wouldn’t do that again and for any amount of money.” In the end, putting so much into the series led it to become “stressful and miserable,” and he made himself miserable as well.
Parsons doesn’t necessarily consider it a result of work ethic, but “it translated in part into a work ethic, but it was really just obsessive behavior basically.” For the actor, his discipline and perfectionism were rooted in something being “OCD in nature.” There was a list in his mind of things in his mind that needed to get done for him to feel like he did his job right, “which I don’t think was true.”
As a result, Parsons felt he missed out a lot on life amid the fame of The Big Bang Theory, and admits he isn’t sure if he’s found a better balance in his life. While knowing he can’t go back to how he was, he also admits, “well, I wouldn’t be where I am right now if I hadn’t had that time of life.”
Since the sitcom, Parson has appeared on and off screen, with his latest work being an on-stage production of the jukebox musical Titanique.