Kaley Cuoco reveals why there was 'drama' as The Big Bang Theory started to become successful

Kaley Cuoco has looked back on her time on The Big Bang Theory fondly, though she didn't shy away from admitting there was some degree of 'drama' linked to the show.

The long-running sitcom about a group of geeky scientists living in Pasadena and their aspiring actress neighbour Penny, played by Cuoco, ended in May 2019. It ran for a total of 12 seasons and earned multiple awards nominations, including four Emmy and a Golden Globe for Sheldon Cooper star Jim Parsons.

Seven years after the show bowed out, Cuoco has reminisced on her Big Bang Theory days and the relationships with her castmates Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg, as well as additions from later seasons, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.

The original five cast members of The Big Bang Theory earned $1 million per episode for season 8 and onwards. (CBS)

As Cuoco explained in a recent interview, she and her co-stars were a tight-knit group, which she compared to Wendy and the Lost Boys from Peter Pan.

"I was constantly trying to keep this group together desperately, and we all really did love each other, but it was 12 years," she told The Independent.

"There were ups and downs," she admitted.

Reflecting on the turning point for the show, which started garnering increasingly positive reviews as well as big viewership numbers, Cuoco said that with money and fame came 'a little bit of drama'.

"I did a lot of hand-holding, and I think I did the best that I could. But, you know, these kinds of shows... it was an explosion of money and fame and became something so much bigger than any of us could have imagined. So of course there was a little bit of drama," she said.

Kaley Cuoco also starred in the short-lived true crime spoof series Based on a True Story. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

The Flight Attendant actress, now starring in action thriller Vanished opposite Sam Claflin, recalled an incident that became a major talking point in 2017. Back then, CBS asked Cuoco and the other four lead stars to take pay cuts to allow for some parity with the newest cast members, Bialik and Rauch. Details of the negotiations made headlines, with the five main stars agreeing to take a 10% salary cut to support their colleagues.

“It was weird,” Cuoco said. “Would anyone want people sharing what they make? Or comparing what they make to [other people]?”

She then added: “We’re in the public eye, so that stuff is going to be known. If you’re like, ‘Oh, I wish people didn’t know that’, well… then don’t be famous.”