Young Sheldon
Season 1 M-Net (*101) 19:30 Comedy
Zoe Perry is doing her mom proud in comedy series Young Sheldon (2017-current). Not only is she proving that she’d make a warm and caring mother if she started a family, Zoe is also playing her mom… well, sort of. Zoe portrays Mary Cooper, the role that her mom Laurie Metcalf has made famous in The Big Bang Theory (2007-current). “But I wasn’t sure it was for me,” admits the actress. “My mom told me I had to go for it and that’s all the help that I got. Do you know how many Big Bang episodes I’ve had to watch?”
1 Acting is a full-circle family business – Zoe’s dad is Jeff Perry, aka Cyrus Beene in political drama The Fixer (2012-current). And Zoe had to audition for her recurring role on that show too, as crooked political aid Samantha Ruland.
2 The 33-year-old has known Young Sheldon and Big Bang executive producer and creator Chuck Lorre since she was seven but says that “auditioning for him was terrifying. What if I messed up and got my mom fired too?”
3 She’s perfect for younger versions of her mom and played a younger version of Laurie’s character Jackie in ’80s sitcom Roseanne (1988-current).
4 Jackie was also her last role for 10 years – Zoe put her career on hold to finish her drama degree at Northwestern University in 2005.
5 She has official accounts on social media but admits that “they [her bosses] dragged me here kicking and screaming. I’ve always been private”.
6 Only Zoe, her family and friends know if she’s seeing anyone, but she will gladly show off “a” man in her life – her mixed-breed dog Rocko, who is in her social media profile photos.