Fans of Mayim Bialik know that she has had a long career, from her roles as a child actress in “Beaches” and “Blossom” to her series “Big Bang Theory”. She is also an author and neuroscientist.
But nothing could have prepared it in recent months, when the “Jeopardy!” the spotlights have come on fully.
“I hadn’t realized how people hold such strong and passionate opinions about ‘Jeopardy!’ and what happened to her, “she said TODAY. “The Twitter audience is not the ‘Jeopardy!’ typical. So there has been an interesting overlap here with how much (the) court of public opinion should weigh on “Jeopardy! We all learn as we go here. “
Bialik, 45, first walked on the “Jeopardy!” scene in late May for a few weeks as a member of a rotating group of guest hosts trying to fill the need for a leader’s show following the death of legendary Alex Trebek in 2020. She got grades high fan base, and when she was announced as the show’s permanent host in prime time and spinoff, it seemed like a good move on the show’s part.
Alas, the show’s permanent regular host, former executive producer Mike Richards has passed away in a spectacular fashion, leaving Bialik alone on her feet – and now, along with Ken Jennings, back to his guest who hosted the regular show. in Week.
“I’m quite surprised, I always adapt to all the changes,†she said. “It happens in real time, so I try to follow as best I can. Obviously, as a child actor, then trained as a scientist and then a science communicator, it’s not entirely surprising that I could be thought of for something like that, but the turnout last month has been exciting to say the least. “
As for making the series, she loves being part of a series with “such a legacy” and works hard to both be herself, but also blend in with the background. “I’m doing a job that was done specifically by a very loved person, so I find a way to make my own mark without being noticeable, because no one should think so much of the host,†she explains.
While Trebek could get away with a chic suit and tie, Bialik had to think about his outfits and employ Beth Morgan, the costume designer for the first season of his “Call Me Kat” series who works with the expert on ” Jeopardy’s “to put her in comfortable and elegant pieces that allow her to show off her flair.
“(Morgan) loves and appreciates all of my curves and thinks I’m perfect the way I am,†Bialik says. “He’s an important lawyer to have in a stylist … we’re definitely trying to bring in some of my personality.”
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the new season of “Kat†coming in 2022, in which Bialik plays a loose-ended cat cafe owner. As the owner of three rescue cats, she is thrilled to be immersed in felines, which has also led to a partnership with LiveClear from Purina Pro Plan, a cat food marketed to minimize sensitivity. human have with cats.
“We have noticed a marked difference in our lives (since her cats started eating food),†said Bialik, spokesperson for the brand. “There’s this protein that’s in the saliva (of cats), so when they groom themselves – which is all the time – it gets over them. That’s why there are no hypoallergenic cats, per se. “
She doesn’t really like dogs, she admits. “I have kids, I don’t want dogs. I have something that looks at me like the world is revolving around me and also all the horrible things that happen to me that I need to fix. Cats are one. different creature. “
On top of all that, she wrote and directed her first feature film, starring Candice Bergen and Dustin Hoffman, with a title that she says is subject to change, “As Sick as They Made Us”.
It’s a lot on his plate right now, but for a lot of audiences, it’s really “Jeopardy!” – no matter how many projects she has in her past. As she notes, the game show is all that is asked of her these days.
“Until a month ago, it was ‘Beaches’ or ‘Blossom’,” she says. “Right now, the role of being myself in ‘Jeopardy’ seems to be getting the most attention. So it’s a whole new world.”