Giz Asks Mayim Bialik About Her Geek Origins


You may know Mayim from The Big Bang Theory where she plays Amy Farrah Fowler — neurobiologist and Sheldon’s love interest. But did you know that the she actually holds a real-life Ph.D in neuroscience from UCLA? No wonder she’s also an official ambassador for Texas Instruments science class room technology.

Gizmodo is traversing the interwebs to chat with geeky celebrities who we’ve always wanted to meet — for this new series sponsored by developer hub, La La Ninja.

Submit your own Geek Origin Story over at La La Ninja for your chance to win one of 2 Xbox 360s. Who knows, maybe we’ll chat with you next!?

When did you have your geek ‘light-bulb’ moment?

I don’t know that I ever realised as a kid that I was geeky because my dad and brother were into comic books and all that stuff so it was normal! I went to academically very rigorous schools so we were all geeks.

In high school when I fell in love with biology, it was a real “I could spend my life being a real geek!” moment with my tutor on the set of “Blossom.” A girl called me a nerd (not kindly) on my first day of UCLA when I told her I wanted to study neuroscience.

And being the spokesperson for Texas Instruments calculators is crazy geeky. And awesome too.

What are you obsessed with at the moment?

That I am extremely proud that my 6 1/2 year old plays “Magic” really well. I swelled with pride and briefly considered that he might be a savant.

When has curiosity ever got you in trouble?

When it has made me discontent and infuriated at the injustice in the world. But then it motivated me to do something about it. So that’s good trouble.

If you could make something out of 1 million Lego pieces, what would it be?

Oh my gosh. I would make a replica of The Great Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed first by the Babylonians and then the Romans.

What do you think will be the geek seeds for the next-generation of tech fans?

I can only imagine! Literally: I have no clue!

Johnny Galecki, Melissa Rauch, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik arrive at the 20th Anniversary of the Alzheimer’s Association. Getty Images


Celebrity Geek Video Interviews


Gizmodo Asks Dr Karl About His Geek Origins

Gizmodo Chats With CliffyB

Gizmodo Goes Sci-Fi With Douglas Rushkoff