After seven years, one The Big Bang Theory lead star is officially ending their acting hiatus.

In 2018, fans were shocked when it was announced that The Big Bang Theory was ending after 12 seasons. At that point, the comedy was still at the top of its popularity, maintaining its place as the number one comedy on TV. Weeks before the news broke out, official CBS executives even expressed their desire to renew the show for one or two more seasons. Despite that, Jim Parsons’ decision to leave led the rest of the cast to follow suit and just wrap up the series altogether.

Since then, the cast of The Big Bang Theory has gone on to take on other roles. Melissa Rauch recently spearheaded the Night Court reboot, while Kaley Cuoco spearheaded a couple of great thrillers, such as The Flight Attendant and Vanished. That said, not all of them have been back in the limelight since the emotional The Big Bang Theory finale. Johnny Galecki, who played Leonard Hoftsadter, has walked away from acting for seven years. Now, however, he’s ready to make a comeback.

Posting on his official Instagram is a screenshot of the report that Galecki is set to portray playwright Tennessee Williams in a Chicago production of Kowalski. The post comes with the actor opening up about the decision to return to theater, saying that he has “been fortunate enough to spend more time living than performing,” which made him realize that they aren’t two separate entities. Check out his full statement below:

For context, the Galecki-starring Kowalski is written by Gregg Ostrin and directed by theater and Modern Family actor Colin Hanlon. The play previously ran off-Broadway and has been vying for a run there. Hopefully, Galecki’s involvement can bolster its chances to do that. While he is arguably best known as Leonard from The Big Bang Theory, the actor was actually in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play The Little Dog Laughed before joining the Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady-created comedy that debuted in 2007.

Of course, Galecki was also in the original run of Roseanne on ABC, playing David — Darlene’s love interest. He reprised the role in The Conners for a couple of episodes, but despite the clamor for him to come back for the finale, he didn’t, as he was in the middle of his hiatus around that time. Before news broke out that he’d be coming back for Kowalski, there wasn’t any indication that he was staging a comeback, so this was a welcomed development for his fans.

Beyond spearheaded Kowalski, there’s interest in potentially seeing him again in The Big Bang Theory franchise. After Young Sheldon totally ignored Leonard, there’s increased clamor to learn what the character has been up to since the flagship wrapped. Now, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is the only viable avenue for his comeback, but if the franchise continues to expand, there’s a myriad of ways to bring him back.

The Big Bang Theory

6/10

Release Date

2007 – 2019-00-00

Showrunner

Mark Cendrowski

Directors

Mark Cendrowski