Reasons We Never Hear About Kaley Cuoco's Sister
The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco is one of today's most popular actresses, but you may not know everything about her—like the fact that she has a close relationship with her younger sister, Briana Cuoco. Chances are you didn't even know Briana existed. The girl hasn't been talked about too much, especially in recent years, and here's why.
She lives in Kaley's shadow
It's not easy to get attention when your sister is a Hollywood A-lister. Kaley's been acting since the early 1990s when started to book gigs for Barbie commercials, TV shows, and TV movies, and she's only gotten more well-known over time. Since then, she's landed significant roles on Charmed, 8 Simple Rules (For Dating My Teenage Daughter), and, of course, The Big Bang Theory and has even played William Shatner's daughter on a series of Priceline commercials. It's safe to say the elder Cuoco, who celebrated her 31st birthday in 2016, has been all over our TV screens for decades. If pure facial recognition wasn't enough, Kaley's also been in the news for her soaring salary on the Big Bang. In 2014, Forbes reported that she and the show's two male leads, Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, earned $1 million per episode, making Kaley the second highest-paid TV actress in Hollywood.
With all that success to compete with, it's easy to fall by the wayside. Briana, who turned 28 in 2016, didn't even start acting until a decade after her sister. According to her IMDb page, her first acting credit was for an episode of The Nightmare Room. Her next job is dated 11 years later as "Neal's Girl" in an episode of The Newsroom. While she's made appearances here and there with Kaley, it's obvious her big sis is the shining star of the family.
The media treat her like a source for her sister
The media are always looking for tasty tidbits of information on TV's hottest stars, and Briana is one of the best potential sources of intel on her big sister. After Kaley's divorce from professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting in 2016r—after 21 months of marriage—reporters tapped Briana to find out how her sister was doing. She's "never been better," Briana told Entertainment Tonight, adding that she hoped Kaley would find someone "who makes her laugh and makes her feel comfortable and confident in what she's made for herself in her life." While it's great to be able to learn more about the CBS darling from such a reliable source, we can't imagine it's fun to be essentially labeled as an informant or as "Kaley's sister," instead of being recognized for your own achievements.
Kaley's relationships take center stage
Taking a peek at her social media accounts, Briana appears to have a number of close friendships and even a boyfriend, but you'll never hear about any of them. Kaley's relationships matter most to the media and overshadow nearly everything in Briana's life—at least to fans of pop culture. In addition to Kaley's headline-grabbing relationship with Sweeting, whom she married after only three months of dating, the award-winning actress has been linked to a number of high-profile men. She secretly dated The Big Bang Theory co-star Galecki for nearly two years and had a 10-day fling with Superman Henry Cavill of Man of Steel. She was linked romantically to Arrow actor Paul Blackthorne as well as country hunk Sam Hunt. At the time of this writing, Kaley has been cozied up to equestrian Karl Cook, and the two certainly make an adorable pair. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Kaley's tabloid-worthy adventures relegate Briana's personal life to the back burner.
She's Kaley's plus-one
Just because she's got a whole fleet of men waiting to accompany her to a red carpet event, it doesn't mean Kaley can't appreciate a fun night out with her sister. Briana often tags along to Kaley's public appearances as her plus-one, and while you'd think this would bolster the younger sibling's popularity, that's hardly been the case. Briana may receive nods for her edgy, rocker-chic style, but all eyes remain fixed on her fabulous older sister. Whether you love or hate the blonde bombshell, everyone has something to say about Kaley. Reporting on the ladies' appearance at the 2016 SAG Awards, Perez Hilton called Kaley's black gown "VERY sexual" and "ab-tastic" and made only a brief comment about Briana's presence and style.
She hasn't landed any major projects
While Kaley's acting career has taken off, Briana's is still taxiing on the runway. According to her IMDb page, little sis had a grand total of seven acting credits to her name at the time of this writing. Her longest-running gig was in The Lydia Bennet!! web series, where she starred as Mary Bennett, the title character's sister. Most audiences will only remember Briana's small role on The Big Bang Theory. In 2013, she played Penny's former best friend and ex-boyfriend's fiancée in the episode "The Tangible Affection Proof." However, her part was anything but significant. Briana's character was only observed from across a restaurant, never even interacting with the main cast. After that, she took on a guest role on The Mentalist and the film Beauty in the Broken but hasn't acted in any major projects since 2015. However, Briana has kept busy with some other, less-public gigs.
She works behind the scenes
Kaley may be the star of the show, but she's not the only one working on set. In November 2012, at her sister's request, Briana choreographed a dance routine for The Big Bang Theory's cast and crew. The gang surprised showrunners Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, and Steve Molaro with their flash mob performance to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and Beyoncé's "Girls." Briana's work did not go unnoticed by Lorre, who later hired her to choreograph a dance number for his other hit show, Two and a Half Men. "She's amazing," Lorre gushed to a Paley Center panel. "An amazingly talented woman."
This isn't the first time the youngest Cuoco has worked behind the scenes. She was Kaley's personal assistant before she broke out into the entertainment business herself, and she seems to be doing well since her transition to Tinseltown. Briana shared her grounded take on the entertainment industry with Us Weekly in 2013. "People open doors all the time for people," she said, "but you have to be the one to close them, no matter what."
Her singing career hasn't taken off
That's right, baby Cuoco dreams of becoming a singer. It's something she's apparently discussed since she was a young girl and shared with her older sister. "We always talked and dreamt about me singing the first song at her wedding," Briana told Extra, admitting that she had expected Kaley to ask her to perform at her ceremony with Sweeting.
Kaley's The Big Bang Theory co-stars have also gushed about Briana talent. Actress Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy on the show, told Access Hollywood that little sis "is phenomenal. She's very, very talented." Parsons playfully agreed, saying, "We give Kaley a lot of hell like 'Oh so finally the world is going to see the really talented Cuoco!'" Briana has made some progress toward her goals. She released a debut album, titled Bluebird, in 2013, but the project didn't take off, despite some positive reviews on iTunes. Despite the setback, she continues to pursue a career in entertainment.
She lost The Voice
After her debut album's lackluster release, Briana auditioned for The Voice in 2013, singing Lady Gaga's "You & I." As reported by CBS News, judges CeeLo Green and Christina Aguilera both spun their massive red chairs around for Briana, who opted to join Aguilera's team, but it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies for the edgier Cuoco. She lost in the battle rounds, only to be miraculously saved by country star Blake Shelton. Even so, her luck didn't last.
Singing No Doubt's "Don't Speak," Briana struggled to maintain an even tone during her matchup with another contender. Green called the battle a "sour moment," reported Today, and Briana's own coach had the worst criticism of all: "It's one thing to look down the road and make your decision based on what you think can happen with somebody," Shelton said. "It's another thing when somebody flat-out outsings the other, and that's what I feel like has happened here." Ouch! Briana was eliminated again—this time for good.
She's been performing in Las Vegas
Another reason we haven't seen or heard much about Briana recently is because she's been busy performing in Las Vegas. Kaley's little sister earned a starring role in The Venetian's show BAZ—Star-Crossed Love. According to the hotel's website, the production is a "mash-up of music, and moments from the greatest love stories imagined by famed director Baz Luhrmann." Inspired by films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and The Great Gatsby, the show promises to "captivate with soul-stirring music and stunning performances from an ensemble cast of vocalists, actors, and dancers."
According to Just Jared, proud sister Kaley visited Briana backstage after one of her September 2016 shows. After taking photos with the cast, Kaley praised Briana's performance and urged her millions of Instagram followers to go see BAZ: "Amazing show and [Briana] is beyond words! Go see it!!" The production is projected to continue through June 2017.