Sussman’s path into the “Big Bang Theory” Cinematic Universe was anything but straightforward. The actor was among those who auditioned for the part of Leonard in the sitcom’s original, unaired 2006 pilot (as was future co-star Bowie, who read for the role twice).
When CBS ordered a retooled pilot the following year, Lorre and Prady instead developed the role of Howard Wolowitz with Sussman in mind. Sussman ultimately landed the part, but ABC declined to release him from his contract on “Ugly Betty,” where he recurred as Walter, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of America Ferrera’s Betty Suarez, throughout Season 1. Instead, the role of Howard went to Simon Helberg.
It wasn’t until Season 2 that Sussman finally joined the multi-cam as Stuart Bloom, a struggling comic book store owner who started out as a confident romantic prospect for Penny before spiraling into perhaps the series’ unluckiest character.
“As the seasons went on, the other characters started to develop as people, get into normal relationships, and advance in their careers,” Sussman recalls. “As their trajectory was going up, Stuart was devolving, and his situation was getting worse — to the point where, at one point, the comic book store burns down, and a big chunk of the ceiling falls right next to him. He looks at it and he’s like, ‘That could have killed me. [Pauses] I can’t catch a break.'”
Though there was buzz about a possible spin-off in 2019, no concrete plans ever materialized. Then came the pandemic. As Hollywood slowly returned to work, so did Sussman, who appeared in the acclaimed dramas “Better Call Saul,” “The Dropout,” and “Lessons in Chemistry,” while also reuniting with Mayim Bialik on “Call Me Kat.”
Four years removed from the mothership’s series finale, he certainly wasn’t expecting to get his own show — let alone an invitation to Chuck Lorre’s office.
Then the phone rang.
“Chuck called me into his office and said, ‘Do you know why you’re here?’ And I had no idea,” Sussman recalls. “He said, ‘I want to do a spin-off called “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” which is a multiverse-type show, and we would have some of the original characters appear, but they wouldn’t be who they were in the original show,’ and he asked me if I would be interested in something like that.” The actor pauses and deadpans, “And I was like, ‘Well, let me check my calendar….'”
Just as importantly, Sussman was pleased to learn the spin-off wasn’t simply trying to recreate “The Big Bang Theory.”
“It’s not comparable to the original show,” he says. “There’s no need to deal with comparisons to the original because it’s so different. It still has that Chuck Lorre DNA with the comedy, but it is definitely a different genre altogether.”
We ask Sussman if the title — which was already in place by the time Lorre made his pitch — was part of the appeal, not so much because his character’s name was at the front of it, but because of what it represented.
“Absolutely,” he says. “Whatever the show was going to be, just having Chuck Lorre call you into his office and say he wants to do a show based around your character is a selling point, you know?”
