AT: Have you ever known anyone like Sheldon?
JP: I haven’t. But what’s funny is that not only am I approached by people who know people like Sheldon, but my mother is a schoolteacher and she’s had countless people that have given her stories of kids who are very Sheldon-esque. Not even Sheldon-esque, just dead on.
From the beginning I was asked if Sheldon has Asperger’s and I went to the writers and they said, “Nope. He doesn’t.” I didn’t know a lot about Asperger’s back then, and I’ve since read some, enough to know more about the behavior of Asperger’s, and there’s Sheldon all over the place in that.
I think it was very smart of the writers to borrow a lot of those behaviors without nailing us down with some extra social responsibility to get this story right. It’s more of a celebration of these kinds of characteristics and the fun, colorful side they offer. It’s been such a joyful experience to behave as somebody that I don’t know and talk to people in such a way that I don’t. In the end, it’s probably some kind of weird therapy.
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AT: One of the great things about Sheldon is that he’s so unapologetic about who he is. Have you applied any of that to your own life?
JP: I want to say that I probably have in a subconscious way. I don’t doubt for a second that portraying this character who doesn’t apologize for what he is, who is so very certain that what he’s doing is right – I have no doubt that, at least on a subconscious level that has affected me. I hope it hasn’t made me a total tyrant to be around. I’d like to use those powers for good.
AT: Aside from his non-existent social skills, what about his interests can you relate to Sheldon’s nerdiness?
JP: I was very average in the social label scale going through school. I was neither the coolest person in school, nor did I suffer the slings and arrows of being made fun of to such a degree that I couldn’t get through the day. I had some trouble and I had some great moments. It was very in between.
I don’t feel like I’m bringing much of anything when it comes to personal experience with him. For one, he doesn’t talk about anything that I have second nature of. Not only do I not have my own language for science, but for comic books, graphic novels, most science fiction, after Star Wars. I think this has been to my benefit and allowed me to connect with him more on a humanistic level because I don’t really get what he’s talking about 90% of the time.
AT: What can we expect this season?
JP: The writers continue to surprise me. I feel like some of the things that have been written this year have been the funniest episodes we’ve done. I’ve always felt like the writers have been so creative with these genius characters and week in and week out they create these stories that are so fun to watch.
We never really know what’s coming before it’s right there. Sometimes they’ll ask you a question. The other day they asked me if I was allergic to cats so I knew cats were going to make an appearance at some point, but unless there’s a health risk involved they really don’t care if you know.