Two years after the Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon went off the air, star Iain Armitage is reflecting on his time on the CBS sitcom — and the claims that he could be difficult on set.
“It was a complete privilege to be on this show and play this character, but yes, it was a big undertaking for an 8-year-old,” the actor, now 18, says in the new book Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy by Jessica Radloff, per Us Weekly.
Armitage, who starred as child prodigy Sheldon Cooper, went on: “I always did the best that I could, and sometimes kids are not perfect. I was grateful to the people who understood that and gave me grace.”
In Radloff’s oral history, other Young Sheldon alums also commented on Armitage’s on-set behavior across the sitcom’s seven-season run.
Annie Potts, who played grandmother Connie “Meemaw” Tucker, said, “We were all working for Iain. We were all serving him. The characters were meant to serve his journey, so that is a lot for a little person to manage psychologically. He was asked to work and carry the weight of something that would be difficult for an adult, and we know that a lot of behavior comes out in situations like that.”
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Potts added, “Yes, sometimes he was difficult. But I’ve worked with grown-ups who were a lot worse. Sometimes I think he was tired, and sometimes I think he pushed people, and people were kissing his ass! It’s a very challenging situation to be 9 years old and be expected to work, behave, and think like a grown-up. And I say that with absolute love and respect.”
Alex Reid, who directed three dozen Young Sheldon episodes, recalls a time he had tension with Armitage: “We were doing a scene, and it would not surprise me if Iain didn’t know he was on camera at this specific shot because he kind of wasn’t playing it like he was acting. I went in there and said, ‘Iain, you’re on camera, so you got to give it your all.’ And he took that as ‘I’m not giving it my all?’ He was pissed that I had implied he wasn’t giving it his all, and kept saying, ‘Well, let’s go again because I need to give it my all.’ And when it was over, I went over, and I apologized to him, and I said, ‘That was a terrible choice of words on my part, and I apologize. I was just trying to protect you because you were on camera, and I wasn’t sure if you knew it or not.’”
Despite those challenges, some of Armitage’s costars praise the young actor in the book. “I always found Iain an enchanting person from the earliest days. I love him,” said Wallace Shawn (Dr. John Sturgis). “As the years passed, he evolved into a very graceful, staggeringly well-mannered person. He’s become very, very dignified.”
And Jason Alexander (Gene Lundy) said, “He fires on a maturity level and an intellectual level that is beyond anybody else for his age, and you have to respect both at the same time. … He and I clicked really nicely, really fast. And he’s number one on the call sheet, and that has its own responsibilities, weights, concerns, problems.”