Young Sheldon Star Annie Potts Came Up With One Of Meemaw's Coolest Style Choices

The canon of "The Big Bang Theory" and its various spin-offs is a fluid thing. In one particular instance, for example, the actor playing a younger version of an already established character got a chance to dictate something about how much the character would change. Indeed, Annie Potts, who portrays Sheldon's (Iain Armitage) grandmother MeeMaw on "Young Sheldon," was candid in a 2018 interview with Variety about how she worked with series co-creators Chuck Lorre and Steve Molaro to develop the younger version of a character first played on "The Big Bang Theory" by June Squibb. She explained that because of the loose rules around the "Big Bang Theory" canon, she felt like she had a "clean slate" to work from despite the character already existing in fan's minds. Still, there was one aspect of Squibb's appearance as MeeMaw that Potts really wanted to hang on to.

On both "The Big Bang Theory" and "Young Sheldon," MeeMaw is the ultimate sweet grandmother; she's a phenomenal cook with a kind heart and a penchant for referring to her grandchildren by cute little nicknames. She's also an important part of Sheldon's life and is his favorite relative both as a child and as an adult (played by Jim Parsons on "Big Bang Theory"). In fact, she's such an important part of his childhood that Potts appears in nearly every episode of "Young Sheldon." She's a gorgeous granny as well, thanks to her gray hair, and it turns out her silver-toned locks were entirely Potts's idea.

Apparently, the creatives behind "Young Sheldon" originally wanted MeeMaw to have hair the same color as her daughter, Mary (played by Zoe Perry in "Young Sheldon" and her real-life mother Laurie Metcalf on "The Big Bang Theory"), though it would eventually go gray by the time of "Big Bang Theory." Instead, Potts wanted MeeMaw to have already gone gray, explaining:

"I said, 'Oh, I would like to play her with gray hair,' and they said. 'What actor wants their hair gray!?' They wanted me to have the same hair color as my on-screen daughter, but I thought she was so different from the daughter, I wanted something a little different. [...] I'm from the South, and I have known these women all my life. There were numerous people in my own family circle and outside of it that I have had to draw from. She's really kind of like putting on my bedroom slippers and going to work. It just felt real comfortable."

Deciding to have MeeMaw be gray already really works, because it helps establish her as a grandmother character and really differentiates her from her daughter visually. Potts's comfort as the character is apparent in her performance; MeeMaw simply emits warmth, so much so that just watching her spend time with her grandkids feels like a gentle hug. Since she also occasionally shows up on the "Young Sheldon" spin-off "Georgie & Mandy's First Wedding," we'll get to keep seeing MeeMaw and her gorgeous gray hair on our screens for some time.

"Young Sheldon" is currently streaming in its entirety on Max.