Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons recently opened up about why he decided to exit the show when he did just over a year after the last episode aired. After a decade of success on the hit television series, Parson simply became “exhausted” after long hours and not enough personal time. While grateful for the life-changing gig, Parsons opened up about the moment of “clarity” he had that essentially led to his decision.
“It was a complicated road, as you could imagine,” he revealed on David Tennant Does a Podcast With… according to PEOPLE when admitting that he “kind of had a suspicion in my heart” that he was going to call it quits when he signed on to continue through Seasons 11 and 12. While he questioned his thoughts at the time of his contract signing, things started to become more clear to him until he wrapped Season 11. At that time, he immediately moved to New York City to be in the Boys In The Band on Broadway.
Not long after, he was set to shoot a commercial for Intel when he and his husband Todd Spiewak’s dog became “gravely ill.” That moment of being forced to continue with work but unable to be a support for his family tore him to pieces. “He just looked so bad, and I was so tired and just started crying,” he admitted. “I was like, ‘This dog’s going to die while I’m off working and I feel so bad.” While he pushed forward with his work, he was pushed to his limit.
“It was the scariest moment for the next couple of days because I felt like I was at the edge of a cliff,” he detailed. “I was teetering and I saw something really dark below.” While the grieving process wasn’t easy for him, he did have a moment of “clarity” from it. “I was in the Saturday matinee, and I kept thinking, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to get to the end of this performance. I was just so beaten down. I walked out for curtain call — I had one more show that night — and I slipped and broke my foot!”
He said that time was like “the end of an era” for him after his dog, who was 14 years old, passing away, while he and Spiewak had been together for 15 years. “I had this moment of clarity that I think you’re very fortunate to get in a lot of ways, of going, ‘Don’t keep speeding by.’ You know? ‘Use this time to take a look around.’ And I did. I was like, ‘I gotta make a move.'” Since the series’ finale in May 2019, Parson has continued in television, working as co-producer of the Fox comedy Call Me Kat.