Shortly before The Big Bang Theory became a huge hit, star Kaley Cuoco appeared in a horror movie that made her most famous role particularly ironic. By The Big Bang Theory’s finale, most of the major characters ended up in a pretty good place. Sheldon won his Nobel Prize, Leonard was married to the girl of his dreams and they were expecting a child, and Howard and Bernadette were happily married. Howard had even been to space, proving that almost anything was possible for The Big Bang Theory’s cast of characters. However, not every main character was so lucky.

Raj ended up single and, while this wasn’t an inherently bad thing, his string of romantic mishaps and his failure to learn from them didn’t bode well for his future. Similarly, The Big Bang Theory’s finale controversially revealed Penny’s pregnancy even though the show’s lead character had been clear about not wanting children for years. This adamant child-free choice made Penny stand out in a sea of sitcom heroines, but it was unceremoniously abandoned at the last moment. Meanwhile, Penny’s original dream of becoming a professional actor was forgotten by the end of the series.

Kaley Cuoco’s Killer Movie Role Reversed The Big Bang Theory’s Penny Story

Cuoco Played An Uber-Famous Actor In The Horror Movie

Ironically, Kaley Cuoco played a hugely successful actor in a small indie horror movie around the same time she began playing Penny, a failed actor in a hugely successful TV show. In 2007, the year that she took on the role of a struggling aspiring actor named Penny, Cuoco played Killer Movie’s main character, Blanca Champion. A reality TV star, Blanca was a comically exaggerated parody of ‘00s celebrities like Paris Hilton who showed unexpected depth as the movie’s story progressed. Against the odds, she became the unlikely heroine by Killer Movie’s ending, alongside Paul Wesley’s amoral director Jake.

While The Big Bang Theory killed off a few characters in its 12-season run, the show couldn’t have been less like Killer Movie. Killer Movie was a satirical slasher story with a dark sense of humor and some surprisingly nasty kills, while Cuoco’s role in The Big Bang Theory highlighted her skill with broad, mostly family-friendly comedy. Moreover, Killer Movie’s storyline couldn’t have diverged further from Penny’s plot in The Big Bang Theory, despite the star playing an actor in both projects. In Killer Movie, Champion’s star power is used to salvage a struggling reality show about a small-town hockey team.

Killer Movie & The Big Bang Theory Were Perfect Opposites (Beyond Just The Obvious)

Cuoco’s Characters Couldn’t Have Been More Different

In The Big Bang Theory, Penny had no star power and could barely even get an opportunity to audition for minor TV guest roles. The Big Bang Theory’s Penny was a sweet, unsuccessful budding actor from a small town, whereas Killer Movie’s Blanca was a spoiled, massively successful actor from the big city. In Killer Movie, Blanca struggled to get accustomed to humdrum small-town life after arriving from LA, whereas The Big Bang Theory’s Penny had a hard time adjusting to LA after moving from a small town. The two roles were almost perfect opposites.

Killer Movie and The Big Bang Theory also diverged massively in terms of story. Whether or not Young Sheldon killed off Leonard, it is fair to say that The Big Bang Theory was a fairly bloodless affair. In contrast, Killer Movie is surprisingly dark, cynical, and bloody, and the underrated comedy horror still stands out on Cuoco’s screen CV as one of her edgier efforts. In the years since The Big Bang Theory ended, Cuoco returned to the darker pastures with projects like The Flight Attendant and Based on a True Story.

Penny’s The Big Bang Theory Acting Career Became Deeply Ironic

Penny Never Succeeded While Cuoco Became World Famous

When her roles in 8 Simple Rules, Charmed, and Brandy and Mr. Whiskers had wrapped up by 2007, Cuoco had the choice between pursuing darker projects like Killer Movie or more family-friendly fare like The Big Bang Theory. The latter ended up defining her career for the following decade, making her a household name and making Killer Movie’s casting ironic in retrospect. After all, Killer Movie cast Cuoco as a huge star at a time when she was moderately recognizable thanks to some TV roles.

The Big Bang Theory cast her as a failing actor at the same time and, although Penny’s acting dreams were eventually abandoned, the role of Penny made Cuoco one of TV’s biggest stars. While The Big Bang Theory betrayed Penny by forgetting her acting dream, Kaley Cuoco’s story is nothing like Penny’s plot thanks to The Big Bang Theory. The role of the failed actor made The Big Bang Theory’s lead a massively successful actor while, in contrast, Cuoco’s role as a famous star was buried when Killer Movie went straight to VOD and earned largely negative reviews.