YOUNG SHELDON Is a True Trekkie, But Would Actor Iain Armitage Follow William Shatner Into Outer Space?

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Thirteen-year-old Iain Armitage, who plays the title character in CTV’s YOUNG SHELDON, was asked a galactic question: If he were given the opportunity to go into space, would he do it? The subject came up naturally, with William Shatner – a.k.a., Captain Kirk – having just made a space trip at the age of 90, courtesy of billionaire Jeff Bezos. Armitage’s character, Sheldon Cooper, has a fascination with all things STAR TREK, and has been heard this season soothing himself to sleep by humming the theme song of the original series. So what do you say, Iain? Ready to boldly go? “I mean, if some billionaire came to me and was like, ‘hey, Iain, want to go to space?’ well, I wouldn’t say no,” Armitage admitted. “It would be awesome. It has always been a dream of mine. I feel like if I could have one superpower, I’d like to fly, because I think it would be so cool to just be able to soar, and I think it’d be like that in space. I mean, I don’t know – maybe some former astronauts are going to correct me on that.” But Iain, if YOUNG SHELDON – which airs another new episode, Thursday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET on CTV – continues at its successful pace, and more acting opportunities arise, maybe you could be a billionaire yourself someday. Then you could arrange your own space travel, and wouldn’t have to wait for a middle man to give you an invitation. “Oh yeah, well, this weekend I’m taking a trip to Mars in my private shuttle,” Armitage said. “I’m going to have a little picnic up there.” Well, hopefully you have a really nice lunch on Mars. “Thank you,” Armitage said. “I’ll try. It’s so dusty.” Coincidentally, it’s also quite dusty in Texas, which is where YOUNG SHELDON is set. Now in Season 5, the series is a prequel to THE BIG BANG THEORY, which was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, airing for 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019 on CTV. Armitage was so little when YOUNG SHELDON began, and his mimicry of the adult Sheldon – who had been played in award-winning fashion by Jim Parsons – was nothing short of remarkable. But the role, and the required performance, is certainly more complex now. Having to bring to mind a pre-existing character, while still surprising the audience, it actually might be the hardest role on television, especially with Sheldon not being quite so young anymore. “Teenage Sheldon!” Armitage said with comic enthusiasm. “No, just kidding. Well, it is hard. Certainly not the hardest role on TV, but thank you very much. I just think it’s so cool to kind of be growing up on this show. It’s almost like looking back at family photos or something. But it doesn’t feel weird, just because I’ve been doing this for such a long time.” On the subject of feeling weird, though, Armitage has been living in the late 1980s for five seasons now. Has he come to accept that pre-internet world? “I just realized, we’re not in the 80s any more, we’re into the early 90s by now,” Armitage said. “But if you lived back then, you wouldn’t be missing the internet, because there was no internet.” It was pointed out to Armitage that even the virtual interview he was conducting presently wouldn’t have been possible pre-internet. What was the alternative, writing each other letters? That’s when Armitage quickly and comically fell into the role of a Victorian-era letter-writer, waving his imaginary pen majestically, and speaking in an exaggerated aristocratic tone: “I thinketh that Young Sheldon is a very fun character to portray.” He even rolled his R’s for extended comedic impact. If Iain Armitage continues to display comic timing like that, the billionaire thing might not be so far-fetched. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv