Young Sheldon's 1990s setting is alien to star Iain Armitage
"I've not lived through any of this," said 12-year-old Iain Armitage of Young Sheldon's setting (the fourth season takes place in 1993). "So I look at some toy and go 'What is this, what is its purpose, why would anyone play with this?' And everyone else will go 'Oh, I used to have one of these' and I'll be like, 'What?'"
For Iain Armitage, who was born in 2008, it must be surreal playing a character who's living through the 1980s. He plays the eponymous Sheldon on Young Sheldon, the spinoff of The Big Bang Theory. The latter show's breakout star, Sheldon, is a genius who lacks humility and social skills — and Young Sheldon started with a 9-year-old Sheldon in the first season, set in 1989. Now that the show is in its fourth season, Young Sheldon's timeline has moved to 1993.
"It is kind of crazy," said Armitage of playing a young character in an era he's never lived through. What strikes him the most about the ’90s is the Walkman. “That is just crazy — I mean, like, I listen to music on my iPad now and I play it through the speakers in our house. And I'm like, why would anyone do this? I know iPhones and iPads hadn't been invented yet [in the 90s] but it just seems insane to me."
While this might sound a little brutal coming from any other 12-year-old, Armitage's exuberance and chirpiness wipes away any sting that might come from his reply. It also helps that the young actor is disarmingly polite, probably more so than most 12-year-old actors — referring to the adults around him as "Sir" or prefacing their names with "Mr" (as in the case of Jim Parsons).
So when it comes to playing The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon, how does Armitage portray a recognisable version of the character — especially since he's only watched several clips from the parent comedy?
"It's not really appropriate for me," explained the young actor about why he hasn't watched The Big Bang Theory. "But I did talk to Mr Jim Parsons, and he really helped me find my inner Sheldon."
Parsons, who plays the adult version of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, taught Armitage about Sheldon's mannerisms to guide him along the first season of Young Sheldon. But now the show has hit its stride and is on its fourth season, Armitage says he's "kind of got it down" regarding the characterisation of the wunderkind.
As anyone with children knows, living through the current COVID-19 pandemic and all its restrictions has not been easy. But Armitage has taken it in his stride. "I like being around a lot of people, so my mum joked that the worse punishment that she could give me was if she locked me in my room and didn't let me see anyone. That's kind of what's happening with COVID! So it's my worst punishment without me doing anything wrong," he said with a cheeky pout.
Nevertheless, production has gone on with all the necessary precautions in place. "We get tested every day, we're super careful, we're all wearing masks. And I've had a really great time," said the actor. Fans can expect to see "a fun little stunt, coming up in one of the episodes."
Armitage might be fine, but what would hypochondriac Sheldon's response to the current crisis be?
"He'd probably be the one who comes up with a vaccine for COVID and he'd probably be in some secret bunker in the middle of nowhere, with like all the PPE [personal protective equipment] and a full yellow hazmat suit, working on some sort of cure for this," Armitage laughed, referencing Sheldon's germaphobic characteristics.
Another difference between Armitage and the character he plays is their favourite superhero. While Sheldon's been seen sporting t-shirts with the Flash on The Big Bang Theory multiple times (the superhero even visited Sheldon in a dream in one episode), Armitage's choice is rather surprising.
"I don't actually know a lot about superheroes but I do love the Flash because I think having speed is a really cool ability. Batman's cool too, I really like Batman. And I like Spider-Man because I love climbing things so he's kind of my spirit animal — a spider, a cute little spider. I love climbing stuff, so probably Spider-Man," he said about his favourite superhero.
"I've gotten into some problems before because if there's something that I can climb — I will climb it. We had a swing a while ago, a rope swing [that was connected to the panelling of the guest house]. So I climbed up on the rope, on to the panelling, and on to the roof of the guesthouse. And I said 'Mum, come here, I want to show you something!' She came out and she was like 'no.' So I got down. I also like climbing our garage at home, which [my] mum hates."
The fourth season of Young Sheldon currently airs on Warner TV (Starhub Ch 515, Singtel Ch 306) every Friday at 8.35pm.
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