Big Bang Theory: Sheldon vs. Wil Wheaton - Part 2!

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April 10, 2010 - This Monday, Wil Wheaton returns to The Big Bang Theory, once again playing the role of... Wil Wheaton. So how does Sheldon feel about that? "He's very unhappy," Jim Parsons said during a recent conversation on the set of the hit CBS comedy. On the other hand, Parson added, "I was happy to see Wil Wheaton because he's very nice, and easy to work with. It's funny, there's absolutely no love lost between the two of them, at least on Sheldon's end, and it's really interesting to treat such a nice person that way - take after take of disdain or just staring. It's one of those things where, a lot of the time you get here, maybe you don't see each other [before filming], and we would go hours where that was the only communication we would have. I would leave the set that day and realize that I'd literally not said a nice word to him because I hadn't seen him outside of the scene. So that was weird."

Parsons was quite complimentary about Wheaton's presence on the show (which this time occurs at a bowling alley), saying, "He's such a wonderful foil. It was just perfect, because of course one of the main enemies in Sheldon Cooper's life is such a nice person – with all the real evil in the world, he's gone after Wil Wheaton. I think the other people on the list were largely make-believe if I remember correctly, like Darth Vader. The things Sheldon will concern himself with and then not concern himself with amaze me. Love isn't worth the time of day, but a 20-year-old hate grudge against Wil Wheaton is worth exploring in a couple of different episodes."

So now that we've seen Wil Wheaton a second time on Big Bang Theory (this Monday's episode is amusingly titled "The Wheaton Recurrence"), might a third appearance be in store? Could he be a recurring nemesis for Sheldon? "I would think so. Nothing's resolved," Parsons remarked. "And I don't think Sheldon ever gets to win in that situation. Not to spoil anything, but Sheldon wins a lot of the time, so it's nice to have a good person come on and always get the best of him, because the rest of them don't always. They try, [but] he's too smart."

Of course as much as Sheldon hates one Star Trek alumni in Wil Wheaton, he has absolute adoration for another, Leonard Nimoy. So might we ever see Nimoy on The Big Bang Theory? Said Parsons, "I'm sure they're trying. What's funny is that he was kept so far away from Stan Lee, in jail and everything, and I've wondered if we ever got Leonard Nimoy on… I just feel like it would be the briefest of encounters. I feel like, once again, I wouldn't get to see Leonard Nimoy more than two seconds, in the episode. Sheldon would flip though, he would explode."

Parsons noted that he doesn't have near the geeky knowledge Sheldon does, especially when it comes to Star Trek. "I feel like my geek cred in this realm ran out roughly around Star Wars' time. I was completely into that but I didn't know any of the other stuff, really. I knew of Star Trek, but that's the only thing that's come up that people do ask about where I'm like, 'I don't know.'"

Parsons revealed that his on-camera enemy became his off-camera mentor filming "The Wheaton Recurrence", when the script said Sheldon, "Does a mind meld with the bowling ball." Said Parsons, "There's no explanation in the script, and I went, 'I don't know what that is! I've never heard of that before.' But Wil Wheaton was here, and overheard me." Parsons made the mind meld position with his hand, recounting Wheaton telling him, "'Well, it would be sort of like this, with this finger,' and I go, 'Are you kidding?!' He's like, 'No.' So I said, 'Okay, well, there you go.'"

The Big Bang Theory: "The Wheaton Recurrence" airs Monday, April 12th at 9:30pm ET/PT on CBS.