Another beloved supporting player is joining the upcoming Max spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory” — Barry Kripke, the character portrayed by John Ross Bowie in 25 episodes of Chuck Lorre’s hit CBS sitcom. Deadline reported this news as an exclusive.
Bowie, who originally auditioned to play Leonard Hofstadter before Johnny Galecki got the lead role but was later asked back to audition for the part of Barry Kripke, is officially on board for the currently untitled spin-off. Kevin Sussman, Lauren Lapkus, and Brian Posehn, who also all played supporting parts on “The Big Bang Theory,” have been attached to this mysterious project since it was first announced.
So, what do you need to remember about Barry Kripke before this show starts airing? A colleague of Leonard and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) who also works at the California Institute of Technology, Barry is a plasma physicist and string theorist who has a seemingly intense but largely superficial rivalry with Sheldon. He also has a fairly unique speech impediment known as “rhotacism,” a real issue that means people pronounce the letters “R” and “L” with a “W” sound. (Bowie has said that he tried an “Elmer Fudd voice” during his audition and it simply stuck.) Lorre and his co-creator on “The Big Bang Theory,” Bill Prady, are likewise set to return for whatever this show turns out to be, so “Big Bang Theory” fans should definitely get excited over the news that Barry, as played by Bowie, is returning too.
Barry Kripke is joining some other supporting players from The Big Bang Theory on this spin-off
Alongside John Ross Bowie’s memorable side character Brian Kripke, this upcoming spin-off is also bringing Kevin Sussman, Lauren Lapkus, and Brian Posehn back as Stuart Bloom, Stuart’s colleague and romantic partner Denise, and Bert Kibbler, respectively. Sussman’s Stuart owns the comic book store and is good friends with the whole “Big Bang Theory” gang, and over the course of the series, he becomes such an important presence that he ends up briefly living with Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and his wife Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz (Melissa Rauch). (Like Bowie, Sussman auditioned for a different role — Howard, specifically — before the creative team on “The Big Bang Theory” came up with an even better part for him.) Denise, who first appears in the show’s 11th season as Stuart’s coworker at the comic book store, eventually starts dating Stuart, and Posehn’s Bert is a geologist who also works at CalTech.
We really don’t know a whole lot about this spin-off’s focus, but the addition of another cast member is definitely promising … and unlike the show’s first spin-off “Young Sheldon” (or that show’s spin-off “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage”), it probably won’t be a prequel. In the meantime, you can see Barry, Stuart, Denise, and Bert alongside the core gang on “The Big Bang Theory,” which is streaming on Max now.