“He thinks like a man”: When Jim Parsons revealed why he chose Iain Armitage to play his character’s younger version in Young Sheldon

Jim Parsons nailed his genius but socially awkward character, Sheldon Cooper, from The Big Bang Theory, which is why the makers had a huge task of finding his younger version for the show's prequel spin-off, Young Sheldon.

However, after many auditions, Parsons and creator, Chuck Lorre, finally found Iain Armitage and the rest is history. While Parsons' portrayal of the character is flawless, Armitage's spin on its younger version is just as praiseworthy.

Parsons revealed in a 2017 interview with Jimmy Kimmel that he was personally invested in young Sheldon's casting and was blown away by Armitage's portrayal of the character:

"He is such a man-child. He thinks like a man.''

More on Armitage's casting in Young Sheldon and why Parsons chose him for the character in our story.

Jim Parsons chose Iain Armitage to play Cooper's role on Young Sheldon

Iain Armitage beautifully captured Sheldon's many idiosyncrasies in Young Sheldon, and watching the prequel series felt like watching a young Parsons as Sheldon.

While Armitage's physical resemblance to Parsons can be seen as a mere coincidence, the credit for his prowess while playing Sheldon goes completely to his acting caliber, that too at such a young age.

The actor was just eight years old when he auditioned for Young Sheldon. Parsons was immediately impressed with his ability, which shined and was important to his TBBT's character. Talking about the casting process for Young Sheldon, he reminisced on Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

"They wrote the most trial-by-fire, two-page monologue and all these kids were coming in with it and they were all really good"

He added:

"But Iain, when his tape came in, it was mind-blowing and I thought, 'he looks really young but he must be 13 to be able to do this' – but he was 8...He's fantastic. I didn't think I was very good with kids but I'm fine with him. He's such a sweet kid, too."

What did Iain Armitage say about his experience on Young Sheldon?

While Parsons truly struck gold with Armitage's casting in Young Sheldon, the young actor's career took off following the show and the recognition it brought him.

His role won him the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor in 2018 and the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star in 2024, respectively.

In addition, Armitage spent a significant chunk of his growing-up years filming for the show, which he reminisced about in a 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight (ahead of the series finale):

"Incredible -- so much fun. I had a great time. It's [growing up on set] weirdly normal to me, because I've been doing it for so long. It's something I kind of realized, that this is such an incredible and weird thing that I get to do... We're really lucky."

Recalling about his casting process, Armitage noted in an interview with Mashable:

''The audition happened in Georgia, during my vacations. And, I had a three-page long monologue that I had to memorise! I got a call back, and when I came in, Jim Parsons, Steven Molaro and Chuck Lorre were all there, and I just did my thing!''

Talking about Parsons, he added:

''He is wonderful. He isn’t on our set a lot, but when he is it is a lot of fun because he is such a nice guy!''

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Also Read: Top 10 Young Sheldon episodes, ranked

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