When people talk about the cast of The Big Bang Theory, they often reference the big names who starred in the major roles in the CBS sitcom. Yet, the Chuck Lorre production could not have been complete without a great supporting cast: recurring and guest stars who joined the fray every now and then to help flesh out the story.
Big Bang became famous for nabbing some very prominent names to feature as guest stars on the show. Bill Gates memorably appeared in the 18th episode of Season 11. His cameo was actually based on a true story, and the tech guru would later reveal that he was “thrilled” when he got the chance to be a part of the sitcom.
Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Regina King and James Earl Jones are all other megastars who made cameos on TBBT. But it wasn’t always that highest profile of celebrity who guest-starred in the series.
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Actress Courtney Henggeler is one of the most significant guest stars who appeared on the show. Although her role was extremely limited, it reads as a significant achievement on her acting resume.
What Role Did Courtney Henggeler Play In The Big Bang Theory?
Courtney Henggeler first appeared on The Big Bang Theory in the fifth episode of Season 1, which was titled The Pork Chop Indeterminacy. She is first seen in conversation with Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper, and a huge number of people hanging outside to witness it.
The character is then quickly revealed to be Sheldon’s sister, Missy. Being a very attractive woman, Sheldon’s friends and colleagues Rajesh Koothrappali, Leonard Hofstadter and Howard Wolowitz begin to vie for her attention. Leonard even invites her back to Apartment 4A, where he lives with Sheldon.
None of them manage to win her over, though, and she is not seen in the story again until the Season 11 finale. By the time Henggeler made that next cameo on Big Bang, her character had already been explored in much greater detail. To start with, she was often referenced in the story, albeit without physically appearing.
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In 2017, then 9-year-old actress Raegan Revord also started to play a much younger version of the character in The Big Bang Theory spin-off series, Young Sheldon.
Courtney Henggeler Went On To Star In Cobra Kai
Courtney Henggeler started acting in 2003. Her very first television role was about two years later, when she featured in an episode of the Fox medical drama, House. As well as her two episodes on The Big Bang Theory, she also appeared in three episodes of Working Class on CMT, two of MTV’s Faking It, and five in Mom, another Chuck Lorre sitcom on CBS.
Every other appearance she made on TV before 2018 was only in single episodes of various shows. That all changed, however, when she was added to the cast of the martial arts comedy-drama Cobra Kai onYouTube Red and later Netflix.
Henggeler’s character on the show is called Amanda LaRusso, described as “a devoted wife and mother, and the voice of reason after [her husband] Daniel's rivalry with Johnny Lawrence [from the movie The Karate Kid] is reignited. Amanda’s children are Samantha and Anthony, portrayed by Mary Mouser and Griffin Santopietro respectively.
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The first three seasons of Cobra Kai were released on YouTube, before Netflix acquired the series. The show hit the 50-episode mark in September 2022. Henggeler had featured in every single one of those episodes.
What Else Has Courtney Henggeler Done Since The Big Bang Theory?
Cobra Kai has kept Courtney Henggeler busy enough since her second and final cameo on The Big Bang Theory in 2018. Still, she has managed to feature in a number of other productions in that period of time as well.
In the same year, she played a character called Hillary in Tyler Perry’s romantic comedy film Nobody's Fool, starring Tiffany Haddish, Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick and Whoopi Goldberg. She also appeared in singular episodes of Jane the Virgin and Fuller House. In 2019, she featured in the horror movie Pilgrim, as a character known as Anna.
Henggeler is also part of the cast of The Boys in the Boat, an upcoming drama film directed by George Clooney and written by The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith. The movie is based on a similarly-titled non-fiction novel from 2013 by Daniel James Brown. Callum Turner and Joel Edgerton are among other stars who have also been confirmed to star in the film.
In the movie, Henggeler will play Hazel Ulbrickson. Hazel was the wife of Al Ulbrickson (Edgerton’s character), who coached a United States rowing crew to gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
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