How A $10 Prop Helped Melissa Rauch Land The Big Bang Theory’s Bernadette

That tasty bit of primetime trivia came out when Melissa Rauch discussed her experience auditioning for the role of Bernadette Rostenkowski in the new behind-the-scenes book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.” In recounting the fateful audition, Rauch admitted the outfit she wore to the audition more or less became the template for her character’s costume on the show. And yes, that includes a specific costume piece the actor claims was a character flourish purely of her own design.

Per Rauch, that costume piece was a pair of glasses she wore purely in hopes of setting herself apart from the score of actors auditioning for the role, “I wore glasses, even though it didn’t say Bernadette wore glasses,” Rauch stated, adding, “There were so many girls auditioning, so I thought, I need to do something a little different.” She indeed found something different in a cheap pair of prop glasses she kept on hand for just such occasions, noting, “I had crappy $10 prop glasses in the glove compartment of my car for auditions … but I put on the glasses as a last-minute decision.”

That decision proved more than fruitful, with Rauch adding she as the glasses were indeed added to Bernadette’s repertoire for her first “The Big Bang Theory” table read, “It wasn’t until I got the role and was about to do the table read a few weeks later when Nikki Valko and Ken Miller [the show’s casting directors] sent a note to my agent saying, ‘The glasses were really great in the audition; she should wear them in the table read.'” And it’s safe to say a $10 prop has likely never paid bigger dividends in the network television realm.