Johnny Galecki Looks Back At His Time on 'Roseanne'

[Brian Damage]

Galecki: I also came from theater, and that’s what drew me to TV both as an audience member and as an actor. We approach our show as theater. It’s 300 people in the audience, and there just happens to be four cameras between us and them. The TV part pays better than the regional theater, but it’s very, very similar. (Laughter.) You just get to eat better.

THR: How difficult was it for you to transition from being seen as a “kid actor” on Roseanne to adult roles?

Galecki: I was ages 16 to 21 on Roseanne, and I was able to work through that transitional time and come out as a young adult on the other end of it. I started doing indie films after that.

Cheadle: And what a show to be on, too. Wow. You got to dizzying heights right away.

Galecki: It was No. 1 when I started. And No. 1 back then … we were disappointed if we were under 30 million viewers.

Ferguson: Oh, my God.

Burrel: That’s insane.

Helms: That’s like Super Bowl numbers.

Galecki: I was really just in shock the whole time. I was a massive fan of the show. Roseanne and I had worked together before, and — as she did with many actors, writers and stand-ups — she’d bring us into the writers room and say, “I want him to do one more.” One episode turned into four, and that turned into five years. The writers had to kind of come up with reasons to keep me there because she’d asked for me to be there! I was this terrified little rabbit in the corner of the stage, watching all of these people; it was my college in many ways. And working with John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Rosie, and they’ve all worked so differently … it was fantastic.

Helms: And now you get to intimidate and terrorize children on your set.

Galecki: Yes, the guest stars. I do my best! They’ve had it too easy already.

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