‘Roseanne’: Johnny Galecki Calls Guest-Starring Role ‘Surreal and Emotional’

Johnny Galecki recently opened up about his Roseanne guest-starring role, calling the experience “surreal and emotional.”

The Big Bang Theory actor appeared as David Healy on the original Roseanne series back in the ’90s, and turned up on the ABC-produced revival during its first season run.

“I was excited to see everyone in the same room again but what I wasn’t expecting was walking onto that set again, which the designers recreated to a T,” Galecki told PEOPLE, adding that walking onto the revival set “was most surreal experience I’ve ever had.”

The 43-year-old actor went on to say that he was not really surprised by some of the more iconic set pieces, such as the family couch, “but the little things like the knobs on the stove, it’s just weird how it opened up your brain to memories you didn’t even realize existed in your psyche.”

“It was very, very surreal and emotional and celebratory,” he added. “It was like going to your 20th high school reunion except all the people are your heroes, not the bullies.”

Galecki was only 16 years old when he began working on Roseanne over two decades ago, and said that he felt “great relief in the fact that this character, 21 years later, was still dormant and resurfaced almost immediately.”

“It’s kind of creepy, those characters they reside in you for a long, long time,” he added, later mentioned that he made sure to let his family know when his scenes were airing “because we were such big fans of that show before I had anything to do with it…And I knew I was going to be proud of it.”

Galecki also spoke about his feelings on David appearing on the show in future seasons, saying, “I hope so.”

“It’s a lot of scheduling and a little bit of politics because it’s two networks but everyone has been supportive,” he later clarified. “I most probably would not be on Big Bang if it wasn’t for Roseanne. And they understand the emotional attachment and this high school crush that I still have on this character.”

While both Roseanne and The Big Bang Theory are on hiatus for the summer, Galecki is busy with his new Science Channel series SciJinks.

The series, which premiered on May 16, uses “cutting-edge science as the foundation for outrageous stunts and practical jokes,” according to a press release.

It’s 50 percent Mythbusters, 50 percent Punk’d and 100 percent hilarious.

Galecki hosts and produces the show, while science “prankologists” Tamara Robertson and Jason Latimer “test out science on unsuspecting marks, drawing from chemistry, physics, technology, engineering and more, with never-before-seen pranks that will introduce audiences to remarkable and unusual scientific discoveries.”