Iain Armitage reveals producers banned him from showing any emotion on Young Sheldon set

Young Sheldon is a show full of sad moments, but Iain Armitage has revealed he was actually banned from showing any emotion during one particularly hard scene. One key characteristic of Sheldon is his lack of emotion, especially when compared to the rest of the family. It’s a key trait of his character in both Young Sheldon and Big Bang Theory, but one that often looks like he doesn’t care.

During the scene in Young Sheldon where the family gets the tragic news that George has died, Sheldon seems oddly emotionless. Whilst the rest of his family is in a state of shock and crying, Sheldon just sits blankly on a chair. But it turns out this wasn’t how Iain Armitage wanted to portray Sheldon at that moment, but in reality, the producers banned him from showing any ounce of emotion.

Via CBS

In an interview, the actor explained how he got immediately shut down when he did try to show some sadness. He explained: “In the scene where the family gets the news that George has died, I was very impressed with myself that I managed to keep my cool because everyone was crying. It was very hard. We love Lance so much. He made it better; he was on set that day and for one of the rehearsals, he peeked in through the window. He had a very fun time with his own death. It was interesting because, for one of the takes, I tried to sink down the chair and not quite cry, but start to get emotional, and Steve Molaro very quickly was like, ‘No, don’t. Not even for a second. It’s almost more heartbreaking if we don’t see any emotion on your face. You’re completely lost.’”

Via CBS

And whilst Iain wasn’t sure if Sheldon being emotionless was the right choice, he understood the decision after he watched the footage, revealing: “When I watched the replay on the monitors at video village, where the writers sit, I instantly saw what he meant. There was one take where I did it the way he wanted; I think he [Steve] started crying a little bit. I understood it after seeing it.