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The Big Bang Theory Series Cast: Main Cast

Main Cast
Supporting Cast

Left to Right: Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar
Image courtesy of Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

Sheldon Cooper

Theoretical physicist and roommate to Leonard Hofstadter.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child. Now take me to return my Star Wars sheets!"

Sheldon has, in his words, "three close friends and one treasured acquaintance" who are revealed as Leonard, Rajesh, Penny, and Howard respectively.

His high intelligence, quirky nuance, and frequently unabashed attitudes are a driving center to the comedy of the series. At times his social demeanor is a source of problem and irritation for others, but equally as often he is the one annoyed that others won't cooperate with his social mores and needs.

Unlike other main characters, he remains arguably asexual throughout most of the first three seasons, seemingly and happily detached from the weights of romantic and sexual relationships. He may even describe himself as "privative a" incarnate with apolitical, atheistic, and asexual as personality chart toppers.

(For unusual facts and personal information, also see Sheldon Cooper: Fact Sheet. For details regarding Sheldon actor, Jim Parsons, also see Who Plays Sheldon Cooper?)

Leonard Hofstadter

Experimental physicist and roommate to Sheldon Cooper.
"She's warm, she's loving, she doesn't glue electrodes to your head to measure your brain waves while potty training."

Leonard, along with Sheldon, constitutes the primary comedic foundation for the show with Leonard's frequent personal tensions and comparably lesser intellectual status making for a contrast against the less socially contemplative Sheldon.

Contributing to his ongoing social anxiety is Penny, the across-the-hall neighbor and romantic thorn in Leonard's side. The relationship lends both drama and a platform for comedic situations, frequently due to Sheldon's dispassionate attitude toward Leonard's quixotic pursuit of Penny's affection.

Penny

Cheesecake Factory Waitress and neighbor to both Leonard and Sheldon.
"Wow. So in your world, you're like ... the cool guys."

While some attention was originally given to her aspirations for a career as an actress and singer, focus on this desire has seemingly diminished through later seasons. This may be in part due to a demonstrated lack of aptitude during early episodes.

Penny represents a more "common" person--lower intelligence, less educated, and holding a broader social approach--than other cast members. This serves as a comparative measure against the atypical backgrounds of other main characters including her ongoing love interest, Leonard.

Her difference of attitude and intellectual background also supplies tension and recurrent awkwardness for the other characters. This is most especially true for Leonard as he struggles to find a balance between a desire to maintain a relationship with her and his own more cerebral personal beliefs.

Rajesh Koothrappali

Astrophysicist and frequently mute "wingman" to friend Howard.
"Sheldon can suck on ... the Casimir Effect."

Rajesh has a cultural background of stark difference to the remainder of the main cast. Despite this he prefers and embraces a wholesale approach to the American culture he now finds himself within. For example, he has a distaste for Indian food and rejects attempts by his parents to arrange relationships for him.

Rajesh also characterize the polar opposite to his regular social friend, Howard, in that his demeanor is one of abject shyness and inability to speak while in the presence of women. This is due to a case of selective mutism. He occasionally overcomes his mutism through use of alcohol or, while he remains unaware, by placebo.

Howard Wolowitz

Aerospace engineer and roommate to his mother.
"760 degrees Celsius, the approximate temperature of the young lady in the front row."

Howard embodies a frequently overconfident, "hands on" Jewish-American whose life seems to roil in contradiction, adding to his comedic value at every turn.

His lack of a PhD and career as an engineer prescribes him both ridicule (Sheldon describes engineers as the "Oompa-Loompas of science") and recognition from other members of the cast. His oft-useful or sometimes purely "because we can" contraptions are universally outdone by flamboyant choices in clothing, outrageous pick-up lines, and uncomfortable situations with his never-seen but obnoxiously embarrassing mother.