The Big Bang Theory has been a juggernaut for CBS since premiering on September 24, 2007. One of the reasons for it’s monumental (yet quizzical) success has been the captivating Kaley Cuoco. However, she was not originally cast to play the female lead.
In the pilot, Canadian actress Amanda Walsh was cast as Katie, “a street-hardened, tough-as-nails woman with a vulnerable interior.”
When the pilot was not picked up the creators retooled the show and Katie was replaced by Penny, played by Kaley, who needed three attempts to nail down the part.
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It worked out pretty good for the show, CBS, and Kaley. Not so much for Amanda.
So while Cuoco makes a whopping $1 million per episode and poised to make at least $90 million through the course of the TV show, Amanda was in one episode of NCIS and a TV movie titled WTF America.
Life is a cruel, cruel existence.
[Unilad]