Whatever Happened To Jonathan Galecki After The Big Bang Theory Ended?

The hit sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" ended in 2019 and was responsible for launching its core cast to global stardom. Melissa Raunch went on to headline her own show after "The Big Bang Theory, while Jim Parsons narrated "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff show, "Young Sheldon." Similarly, Mayim Bialik's life was never the same after becoming a household name, and fellow costar Kaley Cuoco underwent a stunning transformation after dipping her toes in production while working on the HBO hit series "The Flight Attendant." However, unlike his "The Big Bang Theory" castmates, who largely remained in the public eye, Johnny Galecki seemingly vanished from the silver screen after 2019.

When "The Big Bang Theory" ended, the actor was in a very different mindset. He had no intention of quitting acting and was looking forward to his next gig. "There's no plan, but there's a personal hope on my part," he told Parade about joining "Roseanne" spinoff show, "The Conners." However, he did agree that "The Big Bang Theory" shouldn't go on past season 12: "I don't know if that would have been a great idea." He shared that ending at a great spot was better than letting it go downhill first and then being forced to end. A lot has changed since 2019, and for Galecki, his role in "The Conners" was one of his last on-screen appearances. The actor has shifted his focus to working behind the camera, in addition to moving out of Hollywood. 

Johnny Galecki starred in the original "Roseanne" as David Healy, Darlene Conner's love interest, from 1992 to 1997. The spinoff show "The Conners" had just been renewed for season 2 when "The Big Bang Theory" concluded in 2019. After reprising his role in two episodes of the spinoff, Galecki was in talks to play David again. "That's kind of my second home with those folks and I still have a bit of a high school crush on that character," the actor told Parade in 2019. However, he thought it was uncanny how quickly he jumped into David after playing Leonard Hofstadter for more than a decade. "I think I need a little bit of space from another series regular gig."

Galecki landed a guest role in "The Conners" until he was written off in season 5. The executive producer Bruce Helford told TVLine in 2023 that it wasn't an easy decision: "We have to deal with what's going on in the Conners' lives, so we just decided this was the time [to address David's absence]." David's main role in the spinoff series is as Harris and Mark's father, but due to Galecki's unavailability, David becomes a deadbeat father. The executive producers revealed that they had tried to keep options open by taking the absentee father route, so even though they pulled the plug on David, they wanted to keep the door open should Galecki wish to return.

Back when "The Big Bang Theory" wrapped, Johnny Galecki didn't express an immediate interest in stepping away from acting, though he did have a few things in mind. "I'm going to do some traveling and spend some time with family, which I haven't been able to for a while, and work with my production company," he told Parade. "I'll certainly be acting." However, aside from the guest star role in "The Conners," Galecki has virtually stopped acting altogether. His last big screen appearance traces back to the 2019 movie "A Dog's Journey," and his last "The Conners" appearance was back in season 2. A lot has changed since then.

Four years after the second season, the executive producers of "The Conners" reached out to the actor for another cameo to take place at the end of season 5, which is when it became obvious that the actor had taken a different direction in life. "He's certainly taking a step away, taking a breather," executive producer Bruce Helford told TV Line. According to Helford, Galecki has put acting on the back burner, but it wasn't due to the lack of opportunities. "He loved being on the show. But real life tends to take priority." There were also scheduling conflicts that took up his time, along with an interest in pursuing music and spending time with family. It sounds like Galecki had a full plate, and acting was simply no longer his focus anymore.

Born in Belgium and raised in Illinois, Johnny Galecki moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, but even years later, he still found it hard to call the city his home. "I never felt like much of an Angeleno," he told Architectural Digest in 2024. "And I did try. I say that with sadness, not with snobbery." In 2015, the actor bought a half-acre hideaway in Hollywood Hills. Previously owned by Jason Statham and Ben Stiller, the Spanish-style compound consisted of a 1920s villa, guesthouse, and loggia. Although it was private and luxurious, it still didn't ease Galecki's feeling of being an outsider. "Thirty years is just a very long time to live in a city that you're not at all that comfortable in," he shared.

That is not to say that living the Hollywood lifestyle didn't have its highlights. Galecki admitted that he got to fulfill his travel fantasies throughout the years, as acting gigs took him to different cities. However, in Nashville, Tennessee, he found a place where he could truly call home. "Everywhere I looked around here felt like the scene of a future memory," said Galecki. He fell in love with the first house he viewed, and before he knew it, the next chapter of his life had started. Galecki purchased his Nashville mansion in 2018. When he moved out of the city, he rented his Spanish compound for $45,000 a month but eventually sold the property in 2023 for $11.1 million.

The rich history of Johnny Galecki's gothic Nashville mansion is exactly why he fell in love with the property in the first place. "[It was built in] either 1801 or 1811 — I've heard both," the actor told Architectural Digest. Although it started as only a log cabin back in the day, it has since been expanded into a 12,000-square-foot, five-bedroom house occupying 30 acres on the outskirts of the city. Galecki wanted the renovation to capture the home at a certain point in history. "While most remodels want to make the old new, our goal was very much the opposite," the actor shared. However, there were challenges to bringing the past into the present. For one, the workmanship and materials have changed a lot over a hundred years. "With very limited knowledge of the area, resources, and relationships, and a little one running around, I thought, 'This is going to take me at least seven years to try to do it myself.'" 

Galecki wasn't going to give up, though. He hired interior designers and started remodeling in a way that would honor the history of the home while making it his own corner of the world. "There was not a part of the house that wasn't touched in the renovation," his designer, Louisa Pierce, said. They also found a new home for the actor's most prized vintage finds, including a surgery kit, 1950s Italian foosball table, and a collection of glass eyes.

"The Big Bang Theory" actor wasn't exaggerating when he shared that he wanted to spend more time with his family back when the show wrapped. In May 2019, Johnny Galecki and his former girlfriend Alaina Meyer revealed that they were expecting. "We are absolutely over the moon to announce that we will soon be welcoming a little one into this crazy and wonderful world," they told People. In November, their son Orbison was born. The "Roseanne" actor took to Instagram to announce the news in December. "With full and grateful hearts we welcome our beautiful son into this incredible world," he wrote while sharing an adorable hand-holding photo with Meyer and their son. "Thank you for all of your love and support." 

The new family moved into their Nashville mansion right before the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm. However, it was rumored in November 2020 that the couple had split up. The two allegedly stopped interacting via social media around that time. The last time Meyer mentioned Galecki in an Instagram post about their son was in March 2020. All three of them were last associated together online in a now-deleted Easter blessing post in April 2020. "Happy belated Easter, from us to you," Meyer wrote in a caption, with Galecki mirroring the sentiment on his own post: "A heartfelt (& belated) Happy Easter from the three of us to you" (via People). While neither of them said anything to the public, their breakup became concrete when Galecki remarried in 2024.

It wasn't until the 2024 March cover of Architectural Digest that Johnny Galecki revealed that he married Morgan, who took his last name. The couple welcomed daughter Oona Evelena not long after the photoshoot. For a very long time, the actor kept his marriage under wraps, and it's still unclear when their wedding took place or how they met. There's also very little we know about Morgan and her life. It seems that the couple prefer to keep their personal lives private. 

Morgan first appeared on Johnny's Instagram page in January 2023 when the two took Orbison on a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando. In the cover photo of the Instagram carousel, Johnny holds his son, looking content with his eyes closed, while Morgan smiles at the camera. 

In September 2024, the couple and Orbison visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California for a Halloween event, along with the newest member of their family. "It's an incredible day when you are making memories with your children that you could have only dreamed of when you were little," Johnny captioned his Instagram post. In the first picture, Johnny and Morgan were each holding a child, and the second photo showed the two of them having some fun together. Earlier that year, the couple were spotted on a romantic getaway in Italy without the little ones. They were seen taking a boat ride through the city and walking down the streets together in casual clothing.

Johnny Galecki started his Warner Bros-based production company Alcide Bava Productions in 2015. Immediately, he brought in Andrew Haas as vice president to work on the Bobby Miller-directed dark comedy feature,"The Cleanse," in which Galecki also starred in the lead role. The switch to production was a dream come true for the actor, who had been aching to get into more projects after executively producing the pilot of "No Place Like Home" for Warner Bros. TV. "I've had the ambition to produce for over 10 years and have always been excited by the challenge of being part of nurturing and cultivating a seminal creative idea with artists I admire," Galecki told Deadline. 

In 2016, "The Cleanse," which Galecki executively produced finally came to life, and in 2018, CBS ordered a comedy series titled "Bait & Tackle" from his production company. The actor has been focusing on producing ever since the "The Big Bang Theory" finale and has been attached to several projects as a producer since then, including the NBC eSports series, "The Squad." 

However, in 2021, Galecki moved away from comedy to develop an ABC medical drama series based on J.D. Kleinke's novel, "Catching Babies." The series follows a team of professionals who specialize in maternal, fetal, and family medicine.

On the 15th anniversary of the show's pilot episode, which first aired in 2007, the cast reunited to document the oral history detailed in the book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series," written by Glamour's West Coast editor Jessica Radloff. The author reached out to everyone on and behind the cameras to conduct interviews for the big reunion, including Johnny Galecki, who has been on an acting hiatus since the show ended. Radloff revealed that her first Zoom interview with Galecki took four hours. "For someone who was probably the most apprehensive about opening up, he would later admit it was one of the greatest gifts," wrote Radloff for Glamour. She shared that Galecki was very supportive of the project, including sending additional photos and agreeing to joint interviews with Kaley Cuoco about their on and off-screen romance. "Johnny's candor opened the door to some really powerful conversations, and for that I am extremely grateful," Radloff wrote.

Galecki and Cuoco discussed for the first time — in great detail — their high-profile relationship that occurred while working on "The Big Bang Theory." As their on-screen characters, Leonard and Penny, fell in love, so did the actors. The two referred to the elevator shaft dream sequence in "The Nerdvana Annihilation" as a turning point. "I think we fell a little in love in that elevator shaft," Cuoco told Radloff (via Vanity Fair). "We felt something, yeah," Galecki agreed. 

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki met on the set of "The Big Bang Theory" and contributed to one of "The Big Bang Theory's" biggest cast scandals. They started secretly dating sometime in 2008, but Cuoco and Galecki's relationship came to an end almost two years later. "We're from very different worlds, but we also seem to melt into each other's worlds in certain ways," Galecki shared in "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" (via Vanity Fair). While being different can be fun, their relationship stopped working when they wanted two very different things: "I was very uncomfortable with being public about it, and I think that hurt Kaley's feelings a little bit." He admitted that he values the bond and friendship he as with Cuoco more than his most of his other relationships. So, instead of trying to force the relationship to work, they went back to being friends and have remained friends even after the show ended.

"He was front row at both my weddings, and we've been so supportive of each other ever since," Cuoco shared. "We adore each other." In 2021, Galecki posted a throwback picture on Instagram to wish his former co-star and partner a happy birthday: "Happy belated 48th birthday to my / worldwide adored, Mooks." On Valentine's day, Johnny Galecki also called out Kaley Cuoco in a hilarious post. Nearly two years after the show ended, Cuoco shared that she was still in regular contact with Galecki. "Johnny and I are very close. We talk multiple times a week," she told E! News.

In 2021, Johnny Galecki surprised fans when it was announced that he had lent his voice to the modern rendition of the beloved 1937 holiday radio show, "The Cinnamon Bear." Galecki joined an all-star cast for Audible's "Cinnamon Bear: A Holiday Adventure," which featured "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds, who voiced Santa Claus, and "GoldenEye" actor Alan Cumming, as the titular bear. The "Big Bang Theory" star played Fee-Fo the Giant. Inspired by the original series, the new version follows siblings Judy and Jimmy as they hunt for a missing silver star tree topper, during which they stumble upon Cinnamon Bear, who takes them to a land full of oddball characters. 

While voice acting was new for the TV and movie star, Galecki's friendship with Eric Gilliland wasn't. It was a no-brainer for Galecki to appear in the children's audio series adapted by no one other than his long-time friend. "For the past 33 years, when people asked how Eric Gilliland and I met, I answered 'Eric created me from one of his ribs,'" the actor shared on a 2024 Instagram post to celebrate their long-lasting friendship. The audio series also placed him alongside many other familiar voices, such as John Goodman ("Roseanne," "Monsters, Inc."), who voiced Presto the Magician and Oscar winner Helen Hunt, who voiced Professor Wiz the Owl. "Proud to be a part of this holiday love and laughter," the actor wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post (via Yahoo). 

Johnny Galecki couldn't find a true home in Los Angeles, but he certainly found one in Nashville. From there, it didn't take long before the actor started contributing to the local economy by partnering with TV personality and entrepreneur Billy Dec in 2024. Together, they opened a nightclub, The Blueprint Underground Cocktail Club, located in downtown Nashville. Dec was responsible for bringing his Underground Club in Chicago to life. This Chicago-based establishment became a local celebrity hotspot, attracting Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, David Beckham, and more. After moving to Nashville, the TV personality then brought Sunda New Asian restaurant to his new town, and in recent years, he saw a need for something different in downtown Nashville. 

For Galecki, The Blueprint represented more than just a business opportunity. Located at the historic Printers Alley, The Blueprint sits in the part of town that used to be a nightclub district in the '40s and '50s. "Proud to be a part of building this exciting spot in a historic space," Galecki captioned an Instagram post. At the club's grand opening, which Galecki also attended, the bar drew a lot of big names hidden in Nashville. From Reba McEntire to Martina McBryde to Macy Grey and Kevin Griffin, many showed their support. What's more, the new cocktail club is not members-only. "It's very open and very accessible and there's no cover charge," Dec proudly told Forbes.