What Has Kevin Sussman Been Up To Since The Big Bang Theory Ended?

Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) first appeared on "The Big Bang Theory" in the episode "The Hofstadter Isotope," in which he charms his way into a date with Penny (Kaley Cuoco). That was a far cry from the awkward and desperate character that Stuart would come to be over time. In an interview with Lubie en Série, Sussman explained that he was initially wanted for the role of Barry Kripke but had to turn down the part due to scheduling conflicts. The producers brought him back to try out for Stuart, not knowing that Sussman had actually worked in a comic book store before, which was very convenient for him.

Stuart was only supposed to be in one episode, and Sussman credits the character becoming a semi-regular on the show and the character's personality change on an ad-lib that Sussman came up with while shooting an episode. The ad-libbed line comes in the Season 3 episode "The Guitarist Amplification," where, while Penny walks away, Stuart says quietly, "I love you." In an interview with Tulsa World, Sussman explained how everything changed after that line. "Usually there is very little ad-lib or improv on that show, but the writers laughed a lot and, after that moment, they started having me back, and I noticed that they started having the character of Stuart sort of regress," he explained. And thus, Stuart became another one of the comically awkward and frustrated nerds like so many of the other cast members.

Stuart went on to become a fan favorite, appearing in 84 episodes of the long-running sitcom (via IMDb). So what has Sussman been up to since the end of "The Big Bang Theory"? Well, he's had a few projects to keep him busy.

"The Big Bang Theory" ended in 2019, and Kevin Sussman didn't have any acting credits in 2020 or 2021. Still, in 2022 he had three roles: he played a cancer scam victim in a two-episode arc on "Better Call Saul," he reunited with his "Big Bang Theory" co-star Mayim Bialik by playing the role of Zac on two episodes of her new show "Call Me Kat." His biggest role has been as Mark Roessler in Hulu's mini-series "The Dropout."

The series is based on the true story of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), a young entrepreneur who was eventually brought up on fraud charges when some of her company Theranos' claims were called into question.

Sussman was one of the actors singled out for praise in Joshua Kristian McCoy's review of "The Dropout" for GameRant. In the series, Roessler is one of the Theranos employees who turn against the company when they realize something is going wrong. McCoy points out that the idea of a large corporation turning its power on individuals is terrifying, and Sussman and co-stars Dylan Minnette and Camryn Mi-Young Kim do a particularly good job of selling that horror.