Highlights

Mayim Bialik didn't feel welcomed or comfortable on "The Big Bang Theory" due to not being a trained actor like the rest of the cast.Mayim's unique process for preparing for episodes, which involved relying on her photographic memory, had downsides when scripts changed.Mayim's intelligence and background in science, specifically neuroscience, allowed her to contribute with expert insight on scientific topics on the show.

To fans, 's time on might be the highlight of her career. But for the actress, it was another project in the timeline of her professional career, which started all the way back when she was a teenager on

. It's clear that Mayim has learned a lot from her time in the entertainment industry, but that doesn't mean she's necessarily an expert.

Mayim has been open about her career path and the challenges that have come with it, but one of the struggles she experienced was for quite an odd reason. A trait of Mayim's that would seem helpful to most actors actually wound up being one of her biggest challenges.

Mayim Bialik Often Felt Like The Odd One Out On TBBT

Mayim Bialik has a good reason for feeling a bit out of place on

from the very start. She admitted that , but even after some time on the show, things didn't automatically become comfortable.

Not only did alongside the rest of the cast, but Mayim once admitted that she was the odd one out in a different way. In contrast with most of the rest of the cast, Mayim is not a trained actor.

Bialik explained that she came to acting—at age 14—from elementary school plays. While she had been memorizing scripts from age 14, Mayim didn't have formal training as an actor, so she was somewhat set apart from the others.

In addition, Mayim explained in an interview with that her process for preparing for episodes of

was probably very different from the rest of the cast.

Mayim Bialik Has A Photographic Memory (But It's Not A Perfect Solution)

and how they prepped prior to each episode of .

and nailing every scene, which involved things like creating flashcards, typing the script into a Word document, and running lines countless times in different scenarios.

Mayim said her process was far less "elaborate and efficient" than Jim's, and it did come down to one very simple strategy.

She admitted to memorizing scripts quite efficiently, but having a photographic memory wasn't necessarily a perfect solution.

As lucky as Mayim is to be able to memorize full pages of scripts at a time, she stated that there was a downside.

She able to use her photographic memory to remember things, but Mayim said she doesn't on that function of her brain one hundred percent. The problem comes from changes to scripts; Mayim told Jim that when the script changes, she's left floundering.

She admitted, "I memorize the whole and not the parts so that's why when they make changes and the pages change I lose you know I lose my picture of the page."

Add to that the fact that she doesn't have formal training as an actor, and Mayim seemed to be a bit embarrassed that she didn't have as much of a prep routine as Jim.

But her ability to figure things out clearly worked.

Mayim's acting on is a testament to the fact that her system works, even though she also admitted she doesn't even run lines with anyone to prepare for scenes. At the same time, Mayim did have a unique contribution to the show that no other cast member had, which set her apart in another way.

Mayim Bialik Had A Behind-The-Scenes Job On The Big Bang Theory

When Mayim admitted that she's not trained, Jim Parsons called her a "feral actor," but he clearly meant the joke as a compliment.

Apart from her acting prowess, Bialik also has a Ph.D. and is, to put it simply, a very intelligent person.

That intelligence, beyond what anyone else on the show possessed (including ), led to Mayim getting a secondary job on set.

Given that her background in science is in neuroscience specifically, Bialik was able to give some expert insight when they discussed scientific topics. She could fact-check her own lines, although there were other experts available to follow up as well, and that offered more authenticity to the show.

Not everyone agrees that Mayim was a superstar actress on , but commenters on the video clip of her and Jim Parsons were largely supportive of her. Mayim was not only humble, they noted, but she was also honest about her creative process and wasn't concerned about keeping up appearances.