Daughter grow’s into mother’s role
Young Sheldon’s Zoe Perry is younger version of Big Bang Theory character originated by her mom, Laurie Metcalf
Afew years back, before she was cast on Young Sheldon, actor Zoe Perry made her Broadway debut opposite her mother, Laurie Metcalf. When her father, Jeff Perry, came to see a performance, he felt a twinge of jealousy. Not long after, he and Zoe co-starred in a play together as well, this time in Los Angeles. Some of his colleagues from Scandal came to see that show, and that’s when she started booking TV jobs — including an extended run on Scandal.
The names Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Perry are synonymous with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, where they are original ensemble members. The company was just gaining U.S.-wide recognition when Zoe was born. The couple split a few years later, but remained committed to the theatre and Steppenwolf in particular, which meant Zoe spent many an evening backstage.
Fast forward a couple of dozen years and she has carved out her own path as an actor, starring in the CBS comedy Young Sheldon and playing, ironically enough, a younger version of a character originated by her mother on The Big Bang Theory. There really is a resemblance, physical and vocal.
Though her schedule is TVcentric at the moment, at some point she’d like to return to the theatre. “I really want to do a play at the soonest opportunity,” she said. “It’s already been a little over two years since I’ve done a play and it makes me sweat, the idea that it’s been that long already. So I’m very eager to do one and I’d love it to be at Steppenwolf.”
The following is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Q: Was Young Sheldon just one of many auditions you went on, or did the show’s producers seek you out because of your similarities to your mom?
A: I don’t know the specifics on their end, but I know that my reps were working to get me in there. First [the network] had to find their Sheldon and, depending on who they found and what age that child might be, it would determine the relative ages of the rest of the family. So it worked out in my favour for sure that Iain Armitage — who plays Sheldon and is so wonderful — was cast.
He’s nine in real life and nine on the show. So I was at least ageappropriate to play the mom. I was lucky enough to get the audition, and they knew I was Laurie’s daughter going in because one usually does — that stuff always seems to precede the person, right? And I went in and I think I had maybe auditioned for [executive producer] Chuck Lorre in the past, but this was such a unique audition because to play a part that’s already established by someone I know fairly well …
Q: But also put your own stamp on it …
A: Yeah. I’ve obviously got genetics working in my favour — our voices are similar, our mannerisms are even pretty similar. And I’m also granted this leeway because we’re being introduced to the character at a stage of life that’s unfamiliar to us, so she can be a different person in her own right.
Q: She’s still no-nonsense, but maybe a little softer or more tender.
A: She has a pretty strong and maybe rigid sense about how things should or shouldn’t be, but I think what’s sweet about this show is that you see how a parent’s love for their kid can outweigh their rigidity. She has to grapple with the fact that she’s raising a young scientist who doesn’t have faith like she does. And she’s like, well, what’s more important? She has to figure that out every time a new obstacle arises.
Q: Because you grew up around acting, do you think it gives you any insight into working with child actors?
A: That’s an interesting question. I don’t know. I think what’s pretty remarkable about each one of those kids is, they’re all still kids. They enjoy acting, so that makes it really fun to watch them and engage with them while we’re doing a scene, but also just watching them be their ages as soon as “cut” is called. Because, you know, they’re kids! They play and joke and they’re just so funny.
It’s wild to be thrust into a parental role because I don’t have kids myself, but I have younger siblings and my survival jobs over the years included a lot of babysitting, so I just immediately felt such a sense of protection over all three of them and it created a really strong bond. It’s nice to just have that on a personal level and I think it also plays out on the show.
Q: Have you ever done a scene on Young Sheldon and afterwards been like: ‘Ugh, that felt like I was doing my mom instead of playing the character?’
A: Weirdly no, I’ve never felt that way and I think what frees me up the most is knowing that I don’t have to try to be like her. When I talk about genetics, it’s just there. We all have parts of our parents in us, right?
When I’m acting in something — and it could be anything — if I hear myself sound like my father or sound like my mother, I think: ‘Oh God, that’s funny.’ But I also know that’s probably a good thing, you know? I doesn’t freak me out in the way that it might in another scenario. But on stage or in a show I’m like: ‘Oh, that’s nice, that’s probably a good sign.’ It’s a great benefit and luxury that I know that they’ll pop out in me and that’s such a surprising gift I’ve been given. Q: And in this case, a useful one. A: Totally useful. I mean, when I knew I was going to audition for this, I definitely went back and watched all her scenes [on The Big Bang Theory] because I wanted to just make sure I was living in the same space as her. [Actors hold] themselves differently in body and voice depending on the character they’re playing, so I just wanted to make sure I was in the same ballpark. But once I kind of got that, I didn’t really have to think about that part of it anymore.
Q: I’m curious how much or little Steppenwolf felt like a presence in your life growing up. Acting can be so itinerant going from job to job, so being part of a theater company that’s been viable for this long, it can feel like a home base. I wonder if you picked up any of that by osmosis.
A: Oh, definitely, because some of my earliest memories were at Steppenwolf. That’s why I wanted to go to Northwestern [near Chicago]. I didn’t really know where to apply to colleges; my parents had gone to Illinois State and I didn’t think I necessarily wanted to be in that small of a town. So I spent my freshman year at Boston University and just didn’t feel attached to that city in any particular way, so I started to look elsewhere to transfer and Chicago seemed like the obvious place. I knew the city, I loved it, I felt such a strong connection and knew people who worked at Steppenwolf. I just wanted to be near that and I was able to intern at Steppenwolf over the summers while I was there. It always felt really comforting to be in that city and near the theatre.
I was born in Chicago, and that’s where we had been living — between there and New York — until my mom booked Roseanne when I was about four. But because my parents had such a passion for Steppenwolf and that’s the home of their first love, yeah, it definitely carried a weight in our household and also in my mind.
I would spend a lot of time backstage as a kid, either at Steppenwolf or whatever theatres they were working at. I would play solitaire on one of the computers down in the Steppenwolf basement. And I think I would even play some version of tennis ball hockey down in the hallway and I would get reprimanded for making too much noise. But generally I think it was easy to just be entertained by all the adults around me. I found them so interesting and their stories so fascinating and they were all really funny and engaging. So I think to an extent, that was my introduction to actors — or acting as a profession. I was still too young to really see a play, but I knew the people who made the thing, both on stage and behind the scenes, and I was really drawn to them.
Q: What did that mean when you were auditioning? Did you feel like you had to prove yourself or were you feeling fewer butterflies because this was a familiar setting?
A: I never have fewer butterflies auditioning, I find it always somewhat terrifying, even if I know the people in the room — and sometimes even more so when I know people in the room because I don’t want to disappoint. So the mistakes feel a lot greater, in my own mind especially. It’s a funny thing, I’ve grown up with so many of these people and they’ve known me and I’ve known them since I was born, literally.
But I think my feeling about being the child of actors and potentially compared to them — or trying to live up to a quality and an esteem that they’ve garnered over their careers — has morphed over the years. I used to be incredibly intimidated by it and had a level of self-criticism that wasn’t particularly helpful or healthy. But I think as one grows, hopefully we allow ourselves a little more room to come to terms with whatever our particular insecurities are.
I think it’s interesting now, playing a character that my mom has played and knowing that the crux of it is comparison on a certain level, that’s something that really probably would have shook me to my core in my 20s! And now I’ve come more to terms with it and I feel so lucky to have both parents as role models in this profession. I look up to them so much as actors. And whatever hangups I used to have about it, I’ve kind of embraced.
Q: You’re almost steering into the comparisons by taking a role like this. You’re basically saying: ‘Compare away!’ because you’re actually meant to share similarities with the actress who plays Sheldon’s mom on The Big Bang Theory.
A: The thing is, it’s unavoidable. So either I let it torture me — which I just think is silly — or I embrace it. And I feel lucky and happy that I get to embrace it because why not? I love them both, I think they’re both amazing so OK, if the goal is to try to be as good as them, I’ll take it.
Young Sheldon airs Thursdays on CBS.