‘Big Bang Theory’ star Kunal Nayyar previews new book, talks Rag, show, accent
Nayyar reflects on going from New Delhi to the United States in 1999 to study business at the University of Portland in Oregon. One day on campus, feeling “lonely,” the sophomore saw a sign for play tryouts and figured it might be a good way to meet people, especially the female kind.
“I think I gravitated toward theater so much originally because that’s where you can be yourself and not feel so out of place,” Nayyar explains. “You’re allowed to express yourself without being judged.”
Nayyar landed a role in a new show from Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men) about a bunch of supernerds working at Caltech, which premiered in September 2007.
Nayyar realizes his fast track to fame isn’t like what most stars experience; hence, another reason for the book.
“I think people are interested in my journey,” he says. “Many would assume when you’re on a TV show that your life is so glamorous. And I was like, ‘Eh, let me tell you how it goes.’ I want you to know, ‘Hey, I’m just a kid from India, and I’m like you.’ Whether it’s about meeting women, losing my virginity, failing at something, I’m humanizing my journey.”
Nayyar talks about similarities and differences with his Big Bang persona.
“Like Raj, I can get into trouble sometimes because I look at the world through very innocent eyes,” he says. “Not that I’m naive. I do really feel that those I meet or interact with, they don’t want to manipulate me, yet I often get into a situation where I say ‘yes’ to anything and can’t get out of it. I spread myself so thin, always trying to please people and always want to be liked.”
Look out for a few changes on the way for his character, as well as a continued love interest, Emily (Laura Spencer).
“He’s finally developing kind of a spine,” Nayyar says of the gullible young man who leans on alcohol to speak to women. “He’s becoming a bit of a smartass. It’s fun to see him becoming a man before our eyes…What’s different now is that five years ago we used to have comic book night. Now it’s, ‘I want to go to the comic book store, but I have to ask my girlfriend first.’ ”
Nayyar has a hypothesis about the massive success of Big Bang, now in the middle of its ninth season.
“What is so precious with these colorful characters is that we are brilliant, but we are also going through whatever anyone goes through — love, heartbreak, achievement or failure — we’re human,” he says. “Sometimes these multi-camera comedies can get a bad rap for being too presentational. You know, like, ‘Look at me!’ ‘Laugh at my joke!’ So much of what we do on Big Bang is sit around and have a conversation.”
The future of the show: “I think we are due to re-up for season 10. After that, who knows? I hope to continue, but it’s not entirely up to me. Even if we do season 11 or 12, it’s a very odd sensation this year. We are all feeling quite nostalgic. We’re so close. We have each other’s back. We keep it private on set and really love each other. It’s going to be very hard to adjust to going back to what is normal, since this is my normal, if that makes sense.”