Zoe Perry's Least Favorite Thing About Playing Mary On Young Sheldon Makes So Much Sense

Zoe Perry's Mary Cooper is many things on "Young Sheldon." Calm and collected, however, is not one of them. Rather, the character is practically a frantic ball of never-ending anxious energy. If it looks like portraying someone as tense as Mary would be exhausting, well, that's because it is.

In a 2019 interview with Mashable India, Perry was asked about her most and least favorite aspects of Mary Cooper. While the actor explained that she enjoyed the character's passionate nature, Perry also fully acknowledged how tiring Mary's uptightness could be. "Least favorite is probably her rigidity, because it is not only metaphorical but literal!" Perry admitted. "I find that I am constantly tense when I am playing her. So, at the end of the day, I'm a little sore!"

You don't have to be a diehard fan of the "Big Bang Theory" franchise to see Perry's point. An episode or two of "Young Sheldon" will teach even the casual viewer that her character isn't exactly the calmest Cooper. Heck, even Meemaw (Annie Potts) has to often watch out for her daughter's wrath! While being so dang uptight and rigid is what makes Mary so compelling as a character, it's also what makes many fans roll their eyes.

It often feels like Mary Cooper is one of the most maligned characters on "Young Sheldon." Her religious views, coddling of Sheldon (Iain Armitage), and overall treatment of George (Lance Barber) catch a lot of flack from the show's fandom. Over on the "Young Sheldon" subreddit, it feels like every Tuesday there's a new "I hate Mary" thread calling her the worst. But for every fan that comes at Mary with the pitchfork, there's also one decrying the hate as overblown.

"I don't get this subs fervent hatred of Mary. She is a sympathetic and caring parent. Yes she's uptight and prude, but she's invested in her kids lives. She not a perfect parent, but neither is George," one Redditor commented in a 2022 thread titled "Man, Mary is a horrible mother." While other fans agreed that Mary could be overbearing and played favorites way too often, it's a serious stretch to call her a terrible parent. "Sure, Mary has her faults, but it shows realistically how imperfect of a mother she is," another Redditor wrote. "Just saying, Mary ain't the perfect mother, but her family ain't perfect either."

Mary Cooper brings an unrelenting controlling energy to "Young Sheldon." For better or worse, this serves as a crucial bedrock for the series. Would the show really be the same without Meemaw getting lectured by her own daughter or Mary trying to hilariously hide the fact she enjoys watching Patrick Swayze movies? Come on now!