《生活大爆炸》明星访谈：吉姆•帕森斯谈家庭对自己的影响

Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory says biggest impact of his success is on his mum Judy. He’s the star of a global ratings hit and pockets a cool $250,000 for each 30-minute episode of his show. But it’s neither fame nor fortune that are the most enjoyable by-products of Jim Parsons role in The Big Bang Theory.

Parsons, who has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his scene-stealing portrayal of neurotic nerd Sheldon Cooper, says he gets the biggest kick from the impact his success has had on his mum, Judy, a first-grade teacher.

“It is the most glorious by-product of what’s gone on here,” Parsons, 39, says.

“As an actor the goal is to work and for 90 per cent of actors, work does not necessarily lead to people knowing who you are.”

“It’s rare, a situation like this. And when it (recognition) started happening, it was (my mother’s) mini moment of celebrity … People cannot believe she is really Sheldon’s mother! And I know it’s lovely for her.”

“She is much less shy than me. She is much more gregarious, much more of a people person. I think it’s a really nice way for her to start conversations. I’m just glad that something I’m doing has accidentally added joy to my mother’s life.”

Parsons is more solemn when talk turns to his dad, who was the president of a plumbing company and an ardent supporter of his son’s artistic endeavours until he was killed in a 2001 car accident.

Raised in Texas, an introverted Parsons made his first stage appearance in a school play at the age of six. It was Rudyard Kipling’s The Elephant’s Child and Parsons donned a pair of yellow tights and a feathered breastplate.

A love of performing was born and Parsons eventually went on to study theatre at the University of Houston and won a place in a two-year Masters course in classical theatre. He graduated the year of his father’s death.

Asked if he has thoughts on how his father would feel about his success, Parsons says: “I do think about it, actually. I’d be a fool trying to guess what he would think of everything … I’m sure he’d be enjoying it, at least as much as my mother.”

“He was always very supportive. She was certainly the worrier of the two. Embarking upon this life, I know he was certainly a bigger pusher of wanting me to try it and give it a go. I do wonder what it would be like for him now … I do know he’d be pleased.”

“I still don’t know all the ways that affected me, but there’s no way it didn’t,” he says of losing his father.

“It changed the whole family dynamic. When I went home after that I still hadn’t graduated. I had a final project and they (university) told me, ‘You don’t have to come back right away’. It was very interesting that I knew I had to go back and do that because whether or not you could be of use at home I realised in the end I could only be of use to the family fully if I did what I needed to do and then went on.”

“What’s funny is I then moved to New York and had a terrible sense of direction. My dad was very good at it and I understood the city and how to get around so quickly that it boggled my mind. And still, to this day, I think it had something to do with that (his death).”