19. Kaley Cuoco: Now
Kaley Cuoco came to TBBT with some acting background in TV. Most notably, she’d played Bridget Hennessy on the show 8 Simple Rules, but audiences have loved Cuoco as Penny, sometimes obsessively. She’s talented and attractive, and her portrayal of Penny makes it seem like she’d be the easiest person to spend time with. Along with the previous two actors, Cuoco also earns almost a million dollars per episode, helping her to fund her own production company.
18. Simon Helberg: Then
Leonard and Sheldon’s network extends beyond the lovely Penny to their nerdy pals Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali. We’ll come back to Raj in a second. Simon Helberg plays Howard, the fourth most featured character on the show. Before being on TBBT, Helberg was in the movie Van Wilder: Party Liaison, as Vernon. On TBBT, despite being an aerospace engineer, Helberg’s character Howard lives under the thumb of his mother and believes he is something of ladies’ man. Helberg’s portrayal of these dynamics is hilarious. For all his skills, knowledge of seven languages including Klingon, and his masters from MIT, Howard has never been smooth with the ladies. Still, he met a woman named Bernadette through Penny. They married and even have a daughter in recent episodes.