Your mother (Laurie Metcalf) played Mary on The Big Bang Theory…
Yes, though we are meeting Mary Cooper at a different stage of her life. It’s allowed me some freedom to discover who she is in 1989.
How do you feel about the reception?
It has been incredible. We knew we were lucky being connected to The Big Bang Theory in family lore, but we are different as a show.
With the show being set in the 1980s, what do you make of Mary’s wardrobe?
I love it. It is a lot of fun. I wear a lot of those things that look like a dress when you’re standing up but they’re actually pants. Mary has a look! Back in the 1980s I remember my own mother rocking a perm! (laughs)
How are all the actors together?
We hang out outside of work, too. We’ve had parties. We had a pool party. Raegan and Montana have done some hiking.
Were you always going to be an actress, Zoe?
I did not think I would be. I enjoyed watching my parents work, and going to the theatre with them, but I did not have that aspiration when I was younger. It came about when I transferred colleges and hadn’t really made friends in the new place, so I thought, ‘As scared as am I to audition, I need to be introduced to a community.’ So I gathered the courage to audition for something, got in and thought, ‘Oh, I really like this!’
HT21
