Simon Helberg And Mark Hamill Had A Special Connection Before The Big Bang Theory

CBS

Fans of "The Big Bang Theory" definitely know that, in the penultimate episode of "The Big Bang Theory," Mark Hamill cameos as himself in the episode "The Bow Tie Asymmetry" — where Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) get married. What they probably don't know, though, is that Hamill — whose first scene in the episode is actually with Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) — has known Helberg for many years.

Early in the episode, Hamill tracks down his dog, appropriately named Bark Hamill, whom Howard found, at which point the human Hamill offers Howard a favor, leading to Luke Skywalker himself officiating Sheldon and Amy's wedding. What's really wild here, though, is that Helberg's relationship with Hamill isn't really what got him onto the show in the first place.

"Simon Helberg and my son, Nathan, were close friends because they were in school from seventh grade to 12th grade together," Hamill told Jessica Radloff in her book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series," which came out in 2022. "We were always rooting for him, so when this show happened, we didn't call it 'Big Bang Theory', we called it Simon's show. 'Oh, Simon's show is on!' And we watched it early on hoping it would be a success."

"I tried to get the title changed to 'Simon's Show,' but nobody would listen," Helberg joked in the book. "But yeah, Nathan, who is Mark's oldest son, was my best friend for most of junior high into high school." After rhapsodizing about how often he and Nathan Hamill made prank phone calls when they were younger, Helberg continued, "So anyway, there were attempts to get him on 'Big Bang' many different times, and I think a couple of those I might've helped out; clearly, I didn't do a good job because he didn't end up coming on until the end of season 11! But it was a really cool thing to get to do that with my friend's dad. Not to mention that he's one of the most iconic actors ever. But yeah, there was something very cathartic about it, and the whole family was there that night." Helberg knows something about iconic actors, as "The Big Bang Theory" even tried to cast an iconic musician as his character's father.

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Not only did Mark Hamill and Simon Helberg get a scene together on "The Big Bang Theory" after knowing each other for years, but even the crew didn't know about their previous connection. After saying it was "really nice" to work with Helberg, Hamill told Jessica Radloff, "I don't think I told [the writers] that I had a special relationship with Simon, so we were lucky to get that scene."

As for Helberg, he told Radloff that he's so used to Hamill's mere presence that it was almost funny to play Howard in that moment — because, naturally, Howard is beyond starstruck by his idol. "That's acting," Helberg joked. "I'm so jaded by Mark Hamill, but I portrayed a character who was very excited. No, it was so spectacular. And I thought they made such good use out of him, too, because I know he's not a huge fan of playing himself. But the way they did it—with Bark Hamill is, of course, a good joke. "

Here's one final little Easter egg that Hamill revealed to Radloff ... which is that the shirt he wears in his scene with Howard is a connection to Nathan Hamill. "And the T-shirt I was wearing in that scene — it has a mouse with fangs called Lava Bear—my son designed," Hamill said. "That's one of his characters. The 'Big Bang' wardrobe department said it was fine to wear on the show." The dog, however, had no connection to him whatsoever. "My daughter has two small dogs, Millie and Mabel, so either could've played the part of Bark Hamill, but they have certain requirements on set with animals — they need a professional trainer, etc. But people still ask me if that was my dog and if he is named Bark."

CBS

Mark Hamill ends up playing a huge role in the episode, considering that he officiates a long-awaited wedding between two of its main characters. But as he told Jessica Radloff in the book, he was worried the whole thing would be sort of odd. At a certain point, though, he put his questions — and his ego — aside.

After saying he agreed to meet with the show's creative team, Hamill said that he's played himself on several shows, but that it's definitely a weird situation. "So I tried to pitch and said, 'What if I'm a lookalike that they're trying to pawn off as Mark Hamill?'" Hamill quipped. "And what I didn't realize until the drive home—which is always too late—is, What am I doing? This isn't about me! This is about Sheldon and Amy getting married! They gotta tell these stories in twenty-two minutes!"

Ultimately, Hamill's cameo as Amy and Sheldon's officiant was incredibly lovely, and based on what Hamill said in Radloff's book, he really loved doing it too. "The whole experience was ... like live theater and you get immediate feedback from the audience," Hamill said of shooting a multi-camera sitcom. "And everyone genuinely liked one another, which is amazing 11 seasons in. I've been on shows that were on much less than that and there was tension. But they all had a great sense of camaraderie and spirit. It was nice to see. If you're doing a comedy like that and you're not having fun, there's something seriously wrong. And it was just a really fun four or five days."

"The Big Bang Theory" is streaming on Max now.