Breakups are difficult, and breaking up with a coworker can be even worse. Now, imagine splitting up with a coworker, then pretending to split up with that same coworker again, in public, as part of the job that you’re both still doing.
That’s exactly what happened to “The Big Bang Theory” stars Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco in 2010 while their respective on-screen personas Leonard and Penny struggled to navigate post-relationship life.
Leonard and Penny’s romance makes up the bedrock of “The Big Bang Theory,” acting as a central plotline throughout the show’s 12-season run. The actors’ off-screen breakup could have destabilized the entire show, but Galecki and Cuoco were reportedly stalwart professionals despite the story’s coincidental timing with their personal relationship struggles.
“Even though it was hard and raw at times, there was always a love for each other,” observed director Nikki Lorre in People Magazine’s excerpt from “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.” “They obviously made a pact that no matter what happens, they weren’t letting the end of the relationship affect what was going on in the show.”
The Big Bang Theory team didn’t want to reopen emotional scars
Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco’s breakup meant that the creative team behind the show had an added layer of concern while navigating Season 3.
“I remember being worried because we were on a trajectory towards a Leonard and Penny breakup, and being concerned that I didn’t want to hurt somebody who had been through that recently,” said co-creator Bill Prady. “I remember Kaley mentioning something we had written, and her telling us it was surprisingly accurate to something they’d gone through.”
Cuoco noted that some scenes were so close to her experiences with Galecki that it felt like “there were cameras in our houses since things felt eerily close to home.”
Blurred lines and an emotional start to the decade aside, Galecki and Cuoco are apparently still good friends.
This story originally appeared on TVLine
