The Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons, who played the beloved character of Sheldon, opened up about his experience suffering from COVID-19 in a recent interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Parson told Fallon that many of the symptoms that he and his husband, Todd Spiewak, “Defied the description.”
Appearing on a socially distant episode of the talk show in order to promote his new Netflix film The Boys in The Band, Parsons discussed the COVID-19 symptoms that manifested earlier this year. “Todd and I both had it early on. It was like … middle of March. We didn’t know what it was. We thought we had colds. And then it seemed less likely, and then finally we lost our sense of smell and taste,” Parsons said. “It defied the descriptions for me. I didn’t realize how completely taste and smell could be gone.”
The actor explained how he couldn’t complete tasks such as painting or writing, while unable to enjoy meals he described as basically “empty calories.”
Parsons did take the time to reflect that quarantine conditions would have greatly appealed to his Big Bang Theory character of Sheldon. “He was built for this,” he said. “This is the moment he was waiting for.”
In his latest performance in The Boys in The Band, Parsons stars opposite Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer as gay New Yorkers in a time period before the Stonewall riots. The film is based on a 2018 Tony Award-winning 2018 Broadway production that Parsons had also starred in. It follows a group of gay men celebrating the birthday of one of their companions before an unexpected visitor arrives.
