Big Bang Theory spin off
Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper with on-screen son Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory CBS

Zoe Perry is set to star as Mary Cooper in The Big Bang Theory spin-off series titled Young Sheldon, which features the formative life of physicist Sheldon Cooper. The actress, who currently stars alongside her father Jeff Perry on Scandal, will take up the mantle of Sheldon Cooper's god-fearing mother Mary in the spinoff.

The role was first brought to life on The Big Bang Theory by Perry's mother, Laurie Metcalf. Perry spoke to Entertainment Weekly about filling in her mother's shoes and revealed that she still went through a "typical" audition process, "except that there was this other crazy layer to it." The Scandal actress added, "I went in and auditioned for the casting directors and for [executive producers] Chuck Lorre and Steve Molaro. Then, the rest is my lucky history."

As for playing the character, Perry looked to her mother for inspiration. "I did run one of the scenes with her because I was curious to hear her accent doing it. Although I actually didn't have her read the lines because then that would've just stuck in my head. But I made her talk a little bit and I rewatched some of her stuff," the actress admitted.

Just like the grown-up Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, and young Sheldon, to be played by Iain Armitage will have some difference, the two Mary Coopers probably won't be similar.

Perry told the outlet, "It's interesting because there is a tonal difference between Big Bang and Young Sheldon. Big Bang is a multi, and now this one is a single camera. It'll be really interesting for audiences to see where they're similar and how they diverge. I think audiences are going to be really, really surprised and excited about it."

The half-hour, single-camera comedy will follow a 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper living with his family in East Texas and going to high school. The comedy titled, Young Sheldon, is set to premiere in fall of 2017-18.