admin
Simon Helberg was in it for the long haul on “The Big Bang Theory.” He not only stayed on throughout the show’s entire 12 season run, but he also appeared in all 279 episodes. When you’ve got a steady gig, especially in an industry where job security isn’t guaranteed, sometimes it’s best to hold onto what you have. Still, though he spent well over a decade playing aerospace engineer turned astronaut Howard Wolowitz (a role Helberg was hesitant to audition for), his career outside of that has proven he’s willing to break out of the sitcom mold and try new things.
Besides “The Big Bang Theory,” Helberg has worked with filmmakers like Leos Carax (“Annette”), Christopher Guest (“For Your Consideration”), and the Coen Brothers (“A Serious Man”). But as is the case with plenty of actors, he felt the urge to become a filmmaker kick in at one point.
In 2014, Helberg co-directed the independent romantic comedy “We’ll Never Have Paris” with his wife Jocelyn Towne. The film, which is partially based on Helberg and Towne’s messy real-life courtship, stars Helberg as Quinn, a guy who’s having second thoughts about proposing to his high school girlfriend Devon (who’s played by “Yellowjackets” acting extraordinaire Melanie Lynskey). After realizing the extent to which he messed up, Quinn travels to Paris, where Devon is not only staying at her parent’s place but also potentially seeing someone else.
Given that Helberg was still playing Howard when he dipped his toes into the directing pool, it’s somewhat surprising he never helmed an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” itself. To be fair, though, he had an understandable reason for not doing that.
Helberg didn’t want to take on the stressful responsibility
During a 2015 interview with Uproxx, Helberg was asked if he would ever direct an episode of his hit CBS sitcom. But while he expressed some interest in the idea, he also indicated it would be too much for him to handle:
“I’ve thought about it before, but it’s a completely different game. A multi-camera sitcom is its own medium, but I guess the biggest similarity is that you’re working with actors and trying to tell a story. That’s the common thread in all of this, but I feel confident with just taking on one role in all of that. [‘We’ll Never Have Paris’] almost killed me. I lost almost 15 pounds and I only weigh about 30. It was a really grueling-yet-wonderful experience, and it’s very hard for me to wear that many hats. I prefer to focus on one thing at a time.”
Sitcoms usually have a quick turn-around rate, often shooting episodes mere weeks before they’re set to air. When a show has 22 episodes per season like “The Big Bang Theory,” in particular, there’s all the more pressure on the actors to know their lines and hit their marks so they can swiftly move on to the next scene. I imagine they get into a routine that’s hard to break. Hence, after the challenge of acting, writing, and directing his own movie, the thought of adding another responsibility to his already stressful day job probably wasn’t appealing to Helberg.
There is, of course, a longstanding tradition of sitcom actors directing episodes of their own show, including the likes of David Schwimmer (“Friends”), Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”), and Steve Carell (“The Office”). Be that as it may, however, Helberg elected to stay in front of the camera for the rest of his days on “The Big Bang Theory” after that.
Every episode of “The Big Bang Theory” is currently streaming on Max.
