Stuart Fails to Save the Universe cast revels in action-filled scenes

John Ross Bowie, left, Lauren Lapkus, Kevin Sussman, and Brain Posehn in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. Photo by Crave/Bell Media

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Early in the première of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, characters from The Big Bang Theory reunite in the comic book shop of the original hit sitcom. Bert (Brian Posehn) ambles in wearing a hooded cloak and tries to buy a near-mint Batman comic from Stuart (Kevin Sussman), using a can of lima beans as his currency.

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Later we see them in a world of carnage and mayhem, fireballs and giant moths. It’s a far cry from The Big Bang Theory — and that’s the point. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is the third spinoff of the original show, after Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, and it’s a sci-fi comedy set in a multiverse.

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The titular character has broken a device that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) built, and now he must restore reality amid the chaos. It doesn’t go well — in more ways than one.

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“I distinctly remember on set there was a scene where I was running through, and there were explosions all around us,” says Sussman. “While I was doing it, I was thinking this is my Harrison Ford moment. And then I went over to the monitor, and I looked at what it looked like, and I did not look anything like Harrison Ford. I looked like a person who was having a medical incident.”

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Along with Sussman and Posehn, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe stars fellow Big Bang alums John Ross Bowie and Lauren Lapkus, reviving their roles as Barry Kripke and Denise, respectively. The 10-episode HBO Max series debuts July 23 on Crave in Canada, with new instalments released weekly.

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“It’s fun to have the same characters that we played for years on Big Bang Theory suddenly be thrust into these incredibly high-stakes situations,” says Bowie. “It’s almost as if you were watching Friends, and suddenly Janice and Gunther are fighting giants.”

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He adds that stepping into an action-filled genre was a first for most of the core cast. During filming, they worked with pyrotechnics, used green-screen backgrounds, and were even suspended by wires for certain scenes.

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“It was incredibly exciting to get out of my comfort zone, especially compared to what I would do on the old show, where I would come into the cafeteria, insult Sheldon, leave, hang out backstage for a couple scenes, come back, insult Sheldon,” says Bowie.

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Jokes Posehn: I wasn’t prepared for how physical it was gonna get, so I’ve already hired a trainer in case we’re doing season 2.”

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All four leads say that signing up for the show was a no-brainer. The Big Bang Theory aired 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019, and they played secondary characters in a world initially dominated by Sheldon, Leonard, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Howard (Simon Helberg), and Raj (Kunal Nayyar).

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So when Big Bang Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre offered them a chance to reunite and step into lead roles, they hopped on board quicker than you can say “quantum physics.”

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“I think we were all so excited,” says Lapkus. “It was out of the blue completely that we got this call, and it had been years since The Big Bang Theory ended, so I don’t think it was on our radar.”

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As for whether any other stars from the original show will pop up on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, they aren’t dropping any spoilers.

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“You don’t need to have seen the original show,” says Sussman, “but fans of the original show are going to be delighted by some of the characters that they know and love as alternate versions of themselves.”

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