Why Jim Parsons almost turned down Young Sheldon finale cameo

Young Sheldon cataloged Sheldon Cooper’s childhood in Texas, but the series finale has a cameo by Jim Parsons that he initially didn’t want to film.

Parsons played the original character in The Big Bang Theory until its end in 2019. He had no intention to return for Young Sheldon, but there was one reason why he decided to film the cameo.

“I felt a slight hesitancy when they first asked, just as I thought, I don’t really want to go revisit the character. But the way that they wrote it in was, I thought, so beautiful that it ended up being like this little extra coda or whatever to my experience with the character. It was this gift of a second layer of [c]losing it out in a way that I had never seen coming, and it was a real treat,” he explained to People.

Parsons was content with his off-screen contribution to the series as its executive producer. His cameo appearance was short and sweet but just what Young Sheldon needed. It also answered a few questions about the series narrative.

Sheldon appears in his pajamas sitting at his desk typing on his laptop. Young Sheldon is actually a narration or retelling by Sheldon as he’s writing his memoir about his life.

Amy walks in and finds it comical that he’s writing one to “make other people happy.” They then get into a little spat about how Sheldon makes her happy once a year. It also led to the birth of their child.

The cameo creates closure in a unique way as The Big Bang Theory had many believing Sheldon always resented his father after his death. Instead, Young Sheldon flipped the script to prove George Sr. was a loving father and tried his best to cater to Sheldon.

With the series proving it’s part of Sheldon’s memoir, he’s looking back at his childhood to come to terms with what really happened.

Young Sheldon finale will air on CBS and prior seasons on Netflix. If you miss George Sr. after reading his obituary, you can call a number to hear his voice again.