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The Big Bang Theory stunt coordinator on Jim Parsons being a natural, that kraken dream scene, and his Evel Knievel connection

The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) and stunt coordinator Eddie Braun
Eddie Braun was behind the action on The Big Bang Theory (Picture: CBS)

The Big Bang Theory might not be known for its massive stunts, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

While it’s not quite Mission: Impossible, the show is filled with slapstick falls, and minor accidents that the characters get themselves into, not to mention their science experiments, all of which could potentially go wrong if the actors aren’t well-prepared – and that’s where the stunt coordinator comes in.

Plus, there have actually been some pretty big action scenes, including a dream sequence which saw Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter) being thrown off of a boat mid-storm.

As part of our series, Seeing Double, which looks into the extraordinary lives of some of film and TV’s most fearless performers – stunt doubles – we talk to Eddie Braun, who coordinated stunts on The Big Bang Theory.

Eddie opened up to Metro.co.uk about working with the incredible cast, what went into the stunts, and his amazing connection to iconic stuntman Evel Knievel.



Eddie’s stunt CV

The Big Bang Theory stunt coordinator Eddie Braun
Eddie’s stuntman aspirations began when he was young

  • Eddie’s ambition to become a stunt performer started when he met Evel Knievel as a boy. His love for the iconic stuntman never wore off and, in 2016, he successfully pulled off the same stunt that Knievel failed in 1974 – the Snake River Canyon Jump.
  • He started out in stunts aged 17 and has spent 41 years working in the industry.
  • During his career, he’s doubled stars like Charlie Sheen and Michael Paré, and worked on shows including Two and a Half Men, and Sons of Anarchy, as well as plenty of Hollywood movies.

What were the most memorable stunts on The Big Bang Theory?

‘I was surprised that there was any action at all but they always had something,’ Eddie explained. ‘These studios spend a lot of money and having a stunt coordinator is like insurance for them, because if anything happens to these actors, they’re commodities.

‘Even the simplest of things, where you think it’s nothing, like a little slap or a trip, they need to make sure it’s covered well. And on Big Bang, we did have a few really big action sequences, believe it or not.

‘We spent one sequence when Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) is trying to climb a rock wall but it’s too high for him and he faints – it’s things like that.

‘One day we had to do a science experiment and hundreds of gallons of goop dropped from the ceiling onto some professors. There’s always something on that show that needed to be overseen.’

Speaking about the dream sequence in season seven, which saw Leonard being pulled off a ship by a kraken when out at sea, Eddie continued: ‘We actually filmed off the stage out in the parking lot.

‘They built a huge massive section of a ship, like an off-shore ship. They’re out at sea in a rainstorm and a giant octopus, a kraken, pulls Johnny Galecki off the ship. Jim Parsons is on a satellite telephone.

‘That was a huge sequence – it was pretty massive, as far as recreating a ship out in the open sea. We had wave machines, we had hail, rain, and we had the actual actors on the deck of the ship, so it was quite massive actually.’

Which actors were most eager to perform stunts?

Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory
Jim Parsons was always up for doing stunts (Picture: CBS)

‘They were always up for it, in fact I was like an overpaid babysitter,’ Eddie laughed. ‘I had to keep them in line because they wanted to do everything.

‘They all wanted to do it and the key to it was keeping it safe enough for them, or getting doubles for them to do some of the stuff that they really couldn’t do.

‘Jim Parsons, he’s the one that really wanted to do everything. He’s such a sweet, sweet man. We would adapt the slapstick comedy so he could do it, and he did the majority.

‘I may have doubled him once or twice on the show, but other than that, it was him doing all the little things.’

What was it like working with the cast?

‘I was always biased, my favourite was Jim – just because he was such a nice man and so enthusiastic and very sweet,’ Eddie explained. ‘If I did a stunt or one of the other stunt people, he would check and see how we were doing.

‘Until Big Bang theory, I was not familiar with him at all. From day one when I met him, he was very sweet, always one of the first guys to greet you.’

‘Johnny and Jim were very mischevious,’ he recalled. ‘They liked to play jokes on each other. There was a lot of that going on – they would be pranksters, and the whole cast would play jokes on each other.’

On the show, Eddie was also was able to have a couple of cameo appearances, with him recalling: ‘There was one episode where Johnny Galecki had some prescription glasses that don’t quite work and he stumbles around the place and I think we had a cafeteria where he tripped over people, dumps food on people, that sort of thing.

‘All the people in the cafeteria were stunt people, including myself, and Johnny would walk around tripping and dumping food on various stunt people – it was a fun time on that!’

Were there stunts that were too risky for the actors to do?

The Big Bang Theory cast
The cast had to be doubled if something was too risky (Picture: CBS)

‘If they were on a scooter, if they were out on the road, or if it was something that was taxing physically, or if there was a chance of an element of getting a little hurt, I would double them,’ Eddie said.

‘The writers would say, “This is a nothing thing” and I’d say, “They’re all nothing things until they become something.”‘

What’s the deal with the Evel Knievel stunt?

In 1974, Evel Knievel famously attempted to jump across the Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered cycle – but failed to complete it.

Ever since, Eddie dreamed of completing the jump, explaining: ‘No one else had been either crazy enough or stupid enough to do the jump since then.

‘So I spent a few years getting everything ready and in 2016, I successfully, in the same rocket, crossed the canyon, doing what Evel Knievel attempted to do.’

‘How many people get to finish the dreams of their hero?’ he added. ‘Not many.

‘For me, it was like leaving this business on my own terms, and also leaving on a mic drop!’



Want more from Seeing Double?

Seeing Double returns every Wednesday, featuring film and TV’s most fearless stunt doubles.

In the meantime, check out the series so far.


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