Melissa Rauch recently reunited with her former Big Bang Theory co-star Kunal Nayyar for a romantic storyline on NBC’s Night Court reboot. And there was one surprising person who encouraged the actress to get down and dirty in her intimate scenes — her real-life husband.
On this morning’s episode of The View, Rauch recalled filming with Nayyar for the first time since The Big Bang Theory ended five years ago.
“It was truly a dream come true,” she said. “We hadn’t been on set together since Big Bang ended and it was just so special. He’s one of the greatest, greatest people in the world.”
According to the actress, their characters on Night Court have “a little romance” in an upcoming episode. Despite her husband, Winston Beigel, working alongside her as an executive producer, Rauch said there was no awkwardness on set.
“He loves Kunal as much as I do and he has zero ego about me having any sort of romance onscreen,” she said. “He’s wonderful at keeping it separate — to the point that we were doing the romantic, intimate scene and we did a take and I kissed [Nayyar] and [Beigel] came up to me after and he was like, ‘You know, you should really get into it more. Go for it. Look at his complexion. Stroke his face. Really go for it!’”
The View co-host Sara Haines cheekily added, “He’s like, ‘I know what you’re capable of!’”
Rauch first joined The Big Bang Theory in 2009 during its third season. She played the role of Bernadette, Penny’s (Kaley Cuoco) co-worker at the Cheesecake Factory who later marries Howard (Simon Helberg). She and Nayyar, who played Raj, both remained in the series until its finale in 2019.
Now, Rauch helms the revival of the 1980s sitcom Night Court, in which she plays the daughter of Judge Harry Stone, who was played by the late Harry Anderson in the show’s original run from 1984 to 1992. In the reboot, Rauch’s character, Abigail Stone, fills her father’s position as the night shift judge at the Manhattan Criminal Court.
Rauch previously teased her reunion with Nayarr on her Instagram, where she shared a video of the actor saying, “Oh, Bernadette, please play my clarinet,” referring to the poem Raj wrote for her character on The Big Bang Theory.
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
