Jim Parsons Thinks This Actor Could Be 'a Very Good Sheldon'
The Office and The Big Bang Theory were the landmarks of the 2000s television, but neither show could have been as successful as they were without certain casting decisions.
Could you imagine anyone else playing Jim or Dwight? It's tough to see anyone else – or at least, anyone better – in such key roles.
Bazinga! Jim Parsons himself could have landed one of these roles, and The Office would not be the same.
Last year, the actor stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about his career and revealed that he actually could have been our Dwight or our Jim (as he auditioned for both roles).
Parsons admitted that he felt like neither role was really a good fit for him and that he "fell in between them."
He did his best, but didn't really "get it" the same way Rainn Wilson or John Krasinski did with their roles.
Jim recalled watching The Office long after his audition and thinking that his colleagues' portrayals of the characters were far from what "he would've done with it."
He applauded Rainn and John's "strong, powerful, and unique" performances on the show and said that it was for the best that he didn't get either part.
Parsons also pointed out that Rainn Wilson (The Office's Dwight) could have been "a very good Sheldon" if he had been cast instead of Jim, but he still wouldn't have brought the character to life in the same way that Parsons did.
Well, that's good that things worked out as they did then, right?
By the time The Big Bang Theory premiered, Rainn Wilson had already been enjoying two years of success on The Office, but it is fun to think about "what if."
If Jim Parsons had been cast as Dwight, we might only have gotten a glimpse of the Sheldon Cooper that might have been (these characters have a certain quirkiness in common), and whoever ended up playing Sheldon on TBBT might have brought a rather different dynamic to the table.
However, if Parsons had become our Jim, the whole of Jim and Pam's relationship would probably have been even more hilarious to watch, though maybe not as heartwarming…