Prior to landing The Big Bang Theory, Melissa Rauch was feeling down when it came to her career in Hollywood. She was starting to lose her drive and focus. But as the actress revealed on Instagram, a certain email changed everything.
"I was feeling very down and out the day I got this email. My dreams had been repeatedly crushed and I was hardly getting any opportunities to even try to get a job. Upon reading this, I was over the moon just to get the chance to go in for a guest star role on this amazing show.
That's right, Melissa's journey on the show started off as a guest-star, and not once did she assume that all those years later, she'd still be on the series as a regular heading into the finale.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be there as we head into the final episodes of Season 12. There hasn't been a tape night since that first one I did in 2009 that I haven't been overwhelmed with gratitude to step into Bernadette's sensible loafers. To all the actors out there (or to anyone who is going after their dreams): Keep following your heart. You never know what might show up in your inbox," she tells her fans on Instagram.
It was quite the journey for the actress, landing such a career-altering role. However, with the success came certain stresses behind the scenes...
Speaking alongside Conan O'Brien, Melissa Rauch was honest about her most embarrassing moment on the iconic series. The forgettable part takes place in a hotel room. Rauch is supposed to be in the hotel bed with her hands under the covers due to the colder temperature. However, the directors watched the scene back and deemed it an unusable given that it came across like Rauch was doing something else.
"I had a little incident. ... I had it as my character. We were shooting a scene and I'm supposed to be in a hotel bed. ... I'm under the covers and it's really cold on set and I'm under there and out of habit I'm doing this under the covers [mimes rubbing her hands together in her lap] and after the scene was over, our director came over and said, 'We need to see your hands, it looked like you were having way too much fun.'"
Adding to it all, Rauch told her mother about the experience, and she also had quite the response to the moment.
"People have been fired for doing that in movie theaters," she tells her daughter.
Ultimately, it was a moment Rauch and the fans can look back at and laugh over. In truth, it wasn't the first time the show decided to reshoot a scene, or ban one altogether.
The Big Bang Theory also had some other regrets over edgy scenes. One that comes to mind is Penny and Raj's situation... Steve Molaro spent the entire time off thinking of ways to reverse that possibility, and that's exactly what he did.
Another edgy scene was also completely cut out, and it takes place as the opening scene in the pilot, showing Leonard and Sheldon at the sperm bank.
Chuck Lorre explains, "The scene was so wrong," he says in the book. "In my mind, the show truly began with those awkward hellos between Penny, Sheldon and Leonard when she's unpacking boxes in her apartment."
Jim Parsons wasn't as bothered by the scene and its nature. However, he does agree that it didn't really reflect either Sheldon nor Leonard looking at the way both would evolve throughout the series.
