Few actors can say their debut on a hit sitcom became a lifelong memory for reasons entirely outside the script. For one Big Bang Theory star, her first appearance became unforgettable and not in the way she hoped.
Melissa Rauch, who portrayed the witty and high-pitched Bernadette Rostenkowski, joined the show in Season 3 as a co-worker of Penny at the Cheesecake Factory. While her on-screen debut looked effortless, the reality behind the scenes was far more awkward.
In a revealing interview with Conan O’Brien, Rauch recounted a moment that left her red-faced during a scene filmed in a hotel bed set.
“The first episode of the season, I had a little… incident,” she admitted.
Rauch explained that the studio was freezing cold, and to stay warm during the scene, she instinctively pulled the covers up and began rubbing her hands together beneath them. She compared the motion to a Boy Scout trying to start a fire — harmless, habitual, and totally misunderstood.
“So I’m under the covers, and it’s really cold on set because they keep it cold,” she said. “I’m under there and we’re shooting the scene and out of habit I’m doing this [rubbing hands together] under the covers.”
She continued the motion without realizing how it might appear to the live studio audience or the camera crew.
After filming the scene, the director and producer approached her with concern.
“They were like, ‘We need to see your hands in the next take – it looked like you were having way too much fun with yourself under the covers,’” Rauch recalled with a laugh.
As if that wasn’t mortifying enough, a young audience member commented on the moment after the taping.
“This little boy said to me, ‘Did you shoot that scene again with your hands out because it looked weird? Because my dad said it looked real weird,’” she shared.
Seeking some comfort, Rauch called her mom to share what had happened — but instead of reassurance, she was met with alarm.
“She’s like, ‘I hope people understand that you weren’t really doing that, that’s disgusting!’” Rauch said.
Her mother didn’t stop there. “People have been fired from that,” she warned her. “People have lost their careers for doing that in movie theatres!”
The event eventually became a running joke between the two.
“Every week I’d tell her something new that happened on set, and she’d go, ‘Stop doing that! You did it again? It’s enough; keep your hands to yourself!’” Rauch laughed.
Despite the rocky start, Melissa Rauch went on to become one of the show’s most cherished characters, appearing regularly until the series finale. While her first day may not have gone according to plan, it certainly made television history in its own unforgettable way.
Feature Image Credit: Credit: TBS & CBS
