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- Cuoco told W Magazine that her character in "Big Bang Theory" became less sexualized as she matured.
- She starred as Penny, "the cute girl next door to the nerds," for all 12 seasons of the show.
- She said she would not wear the "sexy" outfits now but wanted to "show off" when she was 21.
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"The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco spoke to W Magazine about the transformation of her character, Penny, over the years.
Cuoco starred in the sitcom about socially awkward nerds for all of its 12 seasons alongside Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki. The series begins with Penny (Cuoco) moving into an apartment across the hall to two physicists Sheldon (Parsons) and Leonard (Galecki) and building a friendship with them and their friends.
Whilst at the beginning Penny's main purpose on the show was the "cute girl" with whom all the nerds tried to flirt awkwardly, she eventually became a more developed character receiving her own friendship group with Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Amy (Mayim Bialik).
Cuoco talked to W Magazine about the evolution of her character.
"I started 'Big Bang' at 21 years old," She began. "I was the cute girl next door to the nerds. It was all about booty shorts, Juicy Couture zip-ups. And as the years went on – Penny grows up, Kaley grows up – all of a sudden it's like, 'Can I have a long sleeve shirt? How about a slack? How about a loafer? I never wanna see that high heel again!'"
The 35-year-old actress continued: "I had every colour of the Uggs - Uggs with shorts, those were the days! I don't think it was hard to wear that stuff and be funny, I think. I love being funny no matter what. I think even that was kind of self-deprecating."
"And also that was so long ago," Cuoco added. "When I think about how many years ago that was, it was a different time. Also, by the way, at 21 I was hot. I wanted to show that stuff off. You would not catch me dead in a sexy cat costume now! I just had a litter of kittens - never doing that again."
In June, Cuoco told The Hollywood Reporter that she would have played Penny for "20 years" if the show hadn't ended in 2019.
After "Big Bang Theory" Cuoco was the star in two successful series "Harley Quinn" and "The Flight Attendant." As a producer and actor for "The Flight Attendant" Cuoco was nominated for two Primetime Emmys, two Screen Actor Guild Awards and a Golden Globe in 2021.