The Truth Of Johnny Galecki No One Seems To Talk About
A relatively small number of actors have gotten to play major roles on two hugely successful sitcoms, and Johnny Galecki is part of that special group. Playing both David Healy on "Roseanne" and Leonard Hofstadter on "The Big Bang Theory," Galecki has an impressive amount of cumulative time on top-rated television shows. Speaking of being among a privileged few, he also got to be one of the handful who portrayed Rusty Griswold when he starred in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," which is likely the most re-watched entry in that series thanks to it being a holiday movie.
With screen credits that span five decades and encompass both film and television — not to mention starting out as a child actor in the Chicago theater scene — Galecki has definitely had a career worth respecting. Combined with a personal life that has included love connections with multiple co-stars, there is a lot of interesting information to examine about Galecki both on and off the screen and stage. From his surprising birthplace to his eventual shift to a quieter, more family-focused life far away from Tinseltown, even those who consider themselves huge fans of the actor and his work might not know all there is to know about Johnny Galecki.
He was born in Belgium
Despite not being from a family of performers, Johnny Galecki still got bit by the acting bug at age 3 — even if he isn't entirely sure how or why that was the case. "We barely had money to go to the movies, let alone buy a theater seat, so it wasn't part of my family's lifestyle," Galecki told Variety. But by the time he was seven years old, Galecki had already scored a role in a stage production of "Fiddler on the Roof" after impressing casting directors during an open audition. He was soon making a name for himself as a respected child actor in Chicago's competitive theater scene.
Despite spending his formative years in the Chicago area — and typically claiming Chicago as his hometown — Galecki wasn't actually born there. In fact, he wasn't even born in the United States. While his father was stationed abroad while serving in the U.S. Air Force, Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium, in 1975. The family then settled in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park for a number of years until a brief relocation to Long Beach, California. They changed their minds in just nine months and returned to the Chicagoland area — but Galecki was already scoring acting gigs and decided to stay. Despite only being 14 at the time, Galecki remained in California alone as he forged ahead with his dream career.
His first screen credit paired him with a future Roseanne co-star
Even before his family actually moved to California, Johnny Galecki already had a couple of screen credits under his belt. It would be some time before he landed any of the ones that first got him on the mainstream radar, but they were important steps toward that milestone nonetheless. Interestingly enough, his very first screen role put him on a cast list with someone who would play a father figure to him some years later for his breakthrough TV role.
In 1987, Galecki landed a small part in a made-for-television movie called "Murder Ordained." Also in that film was John Goodman, himself still something of an up-and-comer at that point who wasn't even name-checked in the trailer for the movie. Five years later, Galecki joined the cast of "Roseanne" as Kevin Healey — renamed David Healey by his second episode — opposite Goodman's Dan Conner in a recurring role that would continue for six more seasons, the remainder of the original run of the series.
He never finished high school
When you play a character who is a genius scientist with a doctorate from Princeton, you have to expect people to inquire about your real-life academic achievements. And that's exactly what happened in a 2009 interview with Time Out Chicago, with Johnny Galecki asked to compare his own level of education to that of his "The Big Bang Theory" character, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. While the outlet probably wasn't expecting Galecki to claim a Ph.D., they probably didn't see his answer coming.
"I quit school in the middle of eighth grade," Galecki confessed. "I went to high school one day. It was a half day. Just really didn't think it was for me." However, he didn't completely abandon education after that, explaining that he had tutors on various sets who gave him the private instruction that he preferred over learning in a large classroom. So, he might not have any official diplomas or degrees to his name, but Galecki still received schooling throughout his adolescence. That said, being on the list of successful actors who were high school dropouts put him in impressive company that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Tom Cruise, to name a few.
He speaks very highly of working with Chevy Chase
At this point, Chevy Chase is arguably just as infamous for being a not-so-nice person as he is famous for his decades of acting work — a fact he claims he couldn't care less about. Still, the list of former co-stars who have shared stories about how difficult Chase is to work with is a long one indeed. But apparently, that list doesn't include Johnny Galecki, who landed his breakthrough film role as the onscreen son of Chase's iconic character Clark Griswold in 1989's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
As Galecki describes it, Chase took it upon himself to mentor the young actor, helping him work on his comedic timing and feeding him funny ad-libs to use as Rusty Griswold. Galecki said that Chase even used his personal time, including lunch breaks and after filming wrapped for the day, to continue working and bonding with his co-star. Not only that, but Chase also took Galecki to visit film sets like "Ghostbusters II" and "Harlem Nights." At 13 years old, Galecki was introduced to Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Redd Foxx — a veritable who's who of Hollywood comedy at the time.
His earliest sitcom roles included Mayim Bialik's first kiss
"Roseanne" might have been Johnny Galecki's breakout television role, but it wasn't his first series. After "Murder Ordained" and a couple of other TV movies, Galecki got a job that must have seemed at the time like it would launch his career in a big way. Created by Gary David Goldberg of "Family Ties" fame and starring Robert Ulrich, Carol Kane, and Jeffrey Tambor, "American Dreamer" debuted on NBC in the fall of 1990. Unfortunately, it only lasted one season.
And so it went for Galecki over the next few years, being cast in promising series that didn't last very long — including "Head of the Class" spin-off "Billy," where comedian Billy Connolly played the titular role. Interestingly, his most noteworthy pre-"Roseanne" TV series appearance was also his smallest. In an episode of the first season of the hit NBC series "Blossom," Galecki played a boy named Jason, who ended up being Blossom's (Mayim Bialik's) first kiss. It was another instance of Galecki appearing with an actor he'd later star in a series with — this time, it was Bialik he would eventually reunite with on "The Big Bang Theory." Another cute footnote to Galecki's "Blossom" cameo is that his onscreen kiss with Bialik was, according to the actress herself, her first real-life kiss as well.
He helped Sara Gilbert on her coming out journey
Johnny Galecki wound up in off-screen romantic relationships with the two actresses (Kaley Cuoco and Sara Gilbert) who played his characters' primary love interests in his two most prominent shows. While neither relationship lasted, Galecki was able to continue a close friendship and healthy working relationship with both. However, the camaraderie between Gilbert and Galecki goes much deeper as the two share quite a history together.
Not only have they remained very close for 30-plus years and have worked together multiple times — including Gilbert's stretch on "The Big Bang Theory" and Galecki directing her in multiple episodes of the CBS series "Living Biblically" — but Galecki has played a very personal role in Gilbert's queer journey. While dating Galecki back when they were teenagers, Gilbert says she often felt depressed any time they shared physical affection, and she initially wasn't sure why. She eventually realized that she was gay and said Galecki couldn't have been kinder or handled the news any better. That support later carried over into his being there for her and encouraging her when she decided to come out to the public in 2010.
Hollywood success didn't come as easily for him as television had
As "Roseanne" was wrapping up what was at the time its final season, Johnny Galecki had already started to ramp up his big screen career. After "Christmas Vacation," Galecki only made television movies until 1997, when he hit Hollywood in a big way. That year saw him appear in three big screen films: slapstick romp "Bean," the teen horror flick "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and the ensemble heist comedy "Suicide Kings." In 1998, things kept rolling as Galecki starred in "The Opposite of Sex," his biggest critical hit to date — though Christina Ricci stole the show in what ended up being the vehicle that announced she was a lighthearted child star no more.
After that, Galecki only appeared in a handful of movies between 1998 and 2004, none of which showcased him in a lead role, and he often found himself overshadowed by co-stars who were giving career-making or -defining performances. He certainly gave movies a real shot, but he just never seemed to get much of a foothold in the medium, eventually taking a break from acting and considering retiring altogether. Luckily, a three-episode stint in the 2005 series "Hope and Faith" called him back to the small screen, which set the stage for his big comeback in "The Big Bang Theory" two years later.
He's an award-winning Broadway actor
As previously mentioned, Johnny Galecki's first steps into the world of acting came by way of the theater during his Chicago-adjacent childhood. And while he prioritized the screen over the stage once he started landing film and television work, he never fully abandoned live theater. In fact, he'd eventually make it all the way to Broadway and even win an award for his theater work.
In the summer of 1998, Galecki returned to the city where it all started for him as an actor when he appeared in a play called "Pot Mom" at Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre. He did another Steppenwolf show, "The Drawer Boy," in 2001. But it was with "The Little Dog Laughed" — which ran in various New York City venues from 2005 to 2007 – that Galecki not only got to add "Broadway actor" to his accomplishments but also a Theatre World Award for his performance as Alex. A role he reprised for a 2008 performance in California and a 2020 internet-streamed table read. Galecki also did several other workshop productions and staged readings of other plays in between, keeping his theater kid roots alive in some fashion every few years or so.
He welcomed his first child in 2019
In the summer of 2018, Johnny Galecki shared some photos on his Instagram of a Bahamas beach trip — including one that showed him in an embrace with an unnamed woman. That September, fans learned the woman's name was Alaina Meyer and that they were officially a couple. It wasn't long before Meyer could be seen on Galecki's arm at numerous red carpets, awards shows, and other events over the next year or so.
Speaking of the following year, in May 2019, Galecki and Meyer announced that she was expecting a child. Their son, Avery, was born in November 2019, making both of them first-time parents — though their romantic relationship would soon come to an end. After people began to notice that each had been absent from the other's social media accounts following posts showing them celebrating the Easter holiday together in April 2020, speculation arose that there might be trouble in paradise. Sure enough, by that November — right around Avery's first birthday — reports began to surface that the couple's relationship was now that of co-parents and nothing more.
He has made some interesting real estate purchases
It's no secret that Johnny Galecki — along with the rest of the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" — bagged a whole lot of cash from the series. Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons were taking home $1 million per episode, plus various backend bonuses, beginning with Season 8. It's a milestone that the "Friends" cast didn't hit until that show's ninth season. Actual celebrity net worths are always tricky to nail down, but it's safe to say that Galecki's fortune is very close to — if not well within — the nine-figure zone.
So, of course, Galecki has had some pretty impressive homes over the years. He lived for a while in a mansion whose previous owners included Jason Statham, Ben Stiller, and Lou Diamond Phillips. However, he put that home on the market in 2022 and sold it for a record-breaking amount of money to live a more low-key life with his son in Nashville. Previously, Galecki had also owned several hundred acres of land in California that contained a log cabin, a ranch, a vineyard, a pool, several ponds, and more. Sadly, a 2017 wildfire ravaged several structures on that property, and he eventually cut his losses and sold the land in 2019.
He's politically outspoken and doesn't apologize for it
When Roseanne Barr posted the tweet heard round-the-world in 2018 — the one that would get her fired from, and her character killed off on, her own sitcom — several of her co-stars were very vocal in their disapproval. That included Johnny Galecki, who told Buzzfeed, "That first day when that horrible, horrible tweet of hers went out, I was angry ... it was such a fiercely ugly thing to say." But those who follow Galecki on social media already knew he wouldn't keep quiet on it and that his views stood in staunch opposition to Barr's own.
Barr had become a pretty loud and proud supporter of Donald Trump. Galecki, on the other hand, had posted many inflammatory posts about Trump leading up to and during Trump's time as president. Galecki famously made a point of announcing that he was choosing to do his laundry instead of watching Trump's inauguration and encouraged others to do the same. The actor also expressed frustration over the need for gun law reform following a 2018 mass shooting at a Florida high school. When he received backlash for his comments, Galecki was not only unapologetic but had a very pointed response on Instagram to his detractors and those saying they were no longer fans because of his opinions: "I have no interest in wasting my time trying to convince you to be a more evolved human being."
He's developing a sitcom about the early internet days
As "The Big Bang Theory" was winding down, several cast members had already begun lining up other projects to keep them busy once the series was over. For Johnny Galecki, that seems to have involved adding more off-screen work to his resume. In the last few years, Galecki has been a producer on multiple television shows, in addition to the aforementioned directing work on the sitcom "Living Biblically." And if things go according to plan, he will soon be able to add "series creator" to his byline.
In 2021, it was announced that Galecki was teaming with "Will and Grace" writer-producer John Quaintance to develop a new sitcom called "AOK." The show is set to take place in the early days of the internet — specifically, just before the launch of AOL, hence the clever title — and follows a fictional group of entrepreneur pals trying to stake their claim in the fledgling industry. It is unknown if Galecki will be part of the show's cast or if his role will strictly be behind the scenes. Not much else has come in the way of updates on "AOK" since the initial announcement, and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 probably didn't do the project's progress any favors. But right now, there's no reason not to assume that the show is still in the works in some capacity.