Kaley Cuoco, best known for her role as Penny in the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory, recently opened up about one of the most challenging experiences of her career. While she’s known for her charm on screen, it turns out that some of her professional experiences were more traumatic than fans might expect.
The Most Difficult On-Screen Partnership
After wrapping up twelve successful seasons of The Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco transitioned to a major role in the HBO series The Flight Attendant, which aired between 2020 and 2022. While the show allowed Cuoco to demonstrate her impressive range as an actress, it also became a turning point in her career — not just for the recognition she received, but for the emotional toll it took on her. In a candid interview with Variety, Cuoco revealed the intense challenges she faced while portraying Cassie, a character who must confront multiple versions of herself.
Filming The Flight Attendant was incredibly demanding. “It was hard,” Cuoco admitted. “I’m an emotional sponge, and I tend to approach things in a thousand different ways during a thousand takes. But motion capture doesn’t work that way.” Cuoco described how she had to embody Cassie every day, working with multiple takes that could completely change the direction of her character’s arc. “If I made a mistake, we had to start over. It was a whole new way of working,” she explained. And, as she humorously but honestly put it, “I’ll never work with multiple versions of myself again!”
A Challenging Time in Her Life
While the technical difficulties of filming The Flight Attendant were considerable, Cuoco also admitted that her personal struggles during that time made the role even more difficult. She was going through a rough period in her life when filming began, and she openly shared how this affected her performance.
“It was one of the hardest years of my life,” Cuoco recalled. “Not just personally, but in playing such a tormented character. It was the first time I started therapy — I’ve talked about it openly. I began therapy at the start of season two because I was going through a tough time right before filming began. It was horrible.” Cuoco’s vulnerability on set mirrored the intensity of the character she was portraying. Many of the scenes were so dark and heavy, filled with hatred and sadness, that there was little room for lightness or humor. “I was completely losing my mind,” she confessed.
Despite the emotional and physical toll of playing Cassie, Cuoco’s hard work did not go unnoticed. Her powerful performance earned her critical acclaim, and she was nominated for multiple awards, including two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. These accolades were a bright light in an otherwise challenging chapter of her career.
Cuoco’s time on The Flight Attendant serves as a testament to her resilience and growth as an actress, but it’s clear that it came with significant personal sacrifice. While she will always cherish the recognition, Cuoco doesn’t seem eager to repeat that particular experience anytime soon.
