Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar looks unrecognizable as they debut cameo in new spinoff show
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, HBO
Charlotte Dorans
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, HBO
Kunal Nayyar's cameo role in a new Big Bang Theory spin-off show has him in a whole new look.
The actor is best known for his role as Raj Koothrappali in the highly successful CBS sitcom, which he starred in from 2007 until 2016. Outside of his Big Bang Theory fame, he also starred in TV shows such as Criminal: UK, Sanjay and Craig, and in the 2016 film Trolls.
Most viewers familiar with Nayyar's body of work would have a good idea of his general appearance; however, his look in the Big Bang Theory spin-off show, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, is almost unrecognizable.
The HBO show turns attention from the main group to Stuart Bloom, the comic book store owner (played by Kevin Sussman), as he travels through the multiverse to prevent an Armageddon-style disaster.
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Bloom is joined by a group of supporting characters, including his ex Denise (Lauren Lapkus), scientists Bert (Brian Posehn) and Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie). However, this doesn't mean that creator Chuck Lorre forgot about his Big Bang Theory characters - spoiler warning if you've not seen the premiere episode on HBO Max.
In the episode, titled 'Spoiler: Gary Dies', which debuted yesterday (July 23), viewers are transported to an apocalyptic-type world filled with man-eating moths, though Stuart is still running his store despite business being as expected in a wasteland.
However, Stuart then bumps into an alternative version of himself from another dimension, who warns him of a danger threatening the multiverse and urges him to find a mysterious device. When the gang arrive at a deserted Caltech Institute of Technology, they are kidnapped by an alternative-dimension version of Barry and brought before Raj, who looks a bit more haggard, with long hair and a beard, as he seeks to fix the quantum interference device.
Using Bert's geology expertise, the group can escape them using homemade rock bombs to continue their quest. Nayyar's appearance isn't the only callback to the original series that fans should expect, as both Lapkus and co-creator Bill Prady have teased the return of some beloved characters.
In an interview with People, Lapkus said: "There’s also lots of Easter eggs and cameos and guest stars and things that they’ll be very excited about."
She also praised his performance, calling it 'funny and fun and so different from the show', adding: "I just think people will love that."
The series premiere also established that Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), and Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) were responsible for the quantum interference device that caused reality to shift.
And there's a possibility that they too may make an appearance, as Prady told a San Diego Comic-Con panel this month (via RadioTimes): "Well, you saw one wonderful member of the Big Bang Theory family in that first episode. There are more, and there are also some performers who are some wonderful minor characters that are coming back."