The Huge Bang Idea featured loads of visitor stars throughout its run, with most of these visitor stars normally falling into one in all two classes — both they’re an alum from a beloved science fiction franchise, or they’re an precise scientist. Sheldon (Jim Parsons) kinds a rivalry with Wil Wheaton, and one of many funniest moments within the present’s historical past includes the late Star Wars alums James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher.
Then again, it was enjoyable to see scientific icons like Invoice Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson exhibiting that they’d comedic chops to match their mind. However one of the best visitor star efficiency would possibly come from none aside from Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton’s look was utterly sudden: not like different visitor stars, it wasn’t introduced forward of time, and it let the Landman star play utterly towards sort in what’s one in all his greatest performances.
Billy Bob Thornton Performs an Awkward Physician on ‘The Huge Bang Idea’
Billy Bob Thornton made his first and solely look in The Huge Bang Idea as Dr. Oliver Lorvis within the Season 8 episode, “The Misinterpretation Agitation.” Throughout this era within the present’s run, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) had taken on work as a pharmaceutical gross sales consultant, and Lorvis was one in all her shoppers. Nevertheless, he errors her flirty conduct as a real advance and decides to attempt to romance her, even though Penny and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) have been married. Naturally, Leonard tries to eliminate Lorvis, however that is simpler mentioned than accomplished.
What makes Thornton’s efficiency as Lorvis work is that he genuinely feels awkward; he did not decide up on the social cues and appears genuinely excited to be round Penny. This may need been creepy with one other character (let’s be sincere, Howard (Simon Helberg) did far worse in The Huge Bang Idea‘s early seasons), however Thornton is aware of the best way to play it clueless as a substitute of creepy. It additionally exhibits that he can play exterior his standard sort, as his roles in exhibits like Landman and Fargo have him taking part in a grim, grizzled, humorless determine.
It Turns Out That Billy Bob Thornton Was a Enormous Fan of ‘The Huge Bang Idea’
If Billy Bob Thornton’s cameo in The Huge Bang Idea wasn’t sufficiently big of a shock, the best way he made it onto the present was. Showrunner Steve Molaro revealed to Leisure Weekly that he discovered that Thornton was an enormous fan of the present, and that satisfied the opposite producers to strategy him for a job: “A couple of months in the past, we had seen an interview with Billy Bob speaking about exhibits he likes. He was saying how a lot he likes Huge Bang Idea, and watches it on a regular basis, and will get so into it [that] he begins speaking to the characters on the display…We thought that was so cool, and we expect he is so nice.” It additionally turned out that Thornton was such an incredible visitor that Molaro would have invited him again in a heartbeat:
“All of us simply fell in love with him. It was a magical week…After we completed taping, we had a desk learn the following morning. Everybody was a bit of unhappy that Billy was gone. It was that a lot enjoyable having him round.”
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Do not you dare go close to Sheldon’s spot.
Maybe essentially the most sudden a part of Thornton’s set go to is that he related with Kaley Cuoco, as they’d each labored with the late John Ritter. Ritter and Thornton have been longtime mates, having labored collectively on the short-lived sitcom Hearts Afire and the Academy Award-winning Sling Blade, which helped make Thornton a star. Cuoco’s first main function was in 8 Easy Guidelines for Relationship My Teenage Daughter (later shortened to 8 Easy Guidelines), the place she performed the aforementioned “teenage daughter” of Ritter’s Paul Hennessy. It is a somewhat touching second that additionally serves as the exact opposite of their characters’ interactions in “The Misinterpretation Agitation,” as one scene actually has Penny shoving Dr. Lorvis out of a door.
Billy Bob Thornton’s Look in ‘The Huge Bang Idea’ Was Surprising — however That is Why It Works
The most important motive why Billy Bob Thornton’s look on The Huge Bang Idea works is as a result of it was utterly sudden. This was again when social media began to grow to be a serious discussion board for followers to share their ideas on motion pictures and TV exhibits. Spoilers might run rampant, however the truth that Thornton’s look was stored below wraps till “The Misinterpretation Agitation” aired is a minor miracle. Thornton additionally is not the kind of visitor that normally exhibits up on The Huge Bang Idea, since his appearances in science fiction tasks are very uncommon. However sarcastically, Dr. Lorvis finally ends up bonding with Leonard and his mates as a consequence of the truth that he is apparently a urologist for sure celebrities. He mentions that he met Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Spider-Man himself, Tobey Maguire, and his basement is stuffed with classic video video games and props from sci-fi and fantasy movies. Out of all of the visitor stars throughout The Huge Bang Idea‘s run, Billy Bob Thornton is one of the best.
