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(#1) She Holds A PhD In Neuroscience
Bialik received her Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from UCLA, with minors in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. After a break, she returned to school and earned her PhD in neuroscience. In her dissertation, Bialik explored brain activity in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome. As she told ABC News:
I've had professors say, "How could you give up the money [offered by acting]? How could you give up the fame? How could you give up the prestige?" I believe strongly in following your path and being creative in your life and listening to what your soul wants to do... I'm really happy that I've been able to do both things, to kind of live in both worlds.
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(#2) She Was Accepted To Both Harvard And Yale
After graduating high school, Bialik was accepted to Harvard, Yale, and UCLA. Though acceptance in the Ivy League constitutes a significant win for someone as bright as Bialik, she opted to attend UCLA. The reasons? She wanted to stay close to her parents and didn't want to move to the East Coast.
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(#3) She Was Raised In Reform Judaism And Practices Modern Orthodox Judaism
Bialik's faith plays a central role in her life, and reportedly has since a young age. Raised in Reform Judaism, she began moving towards Modern Orthodox Judaism as an adult. Bialik doesn't identify as a strict Modern Orthodox adherent, though, choosing the term "Conservadox" instead. She cites her faith as the driving force behind many of her choices, from the decision to dress modestly to her dietary preferences.
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(#4) She Returned To Acting So She Could Spend More Time With Her Kids
With a PhD, instant name recognition, and academic smarts, Bialik could have launched a successful career as a neuroscientist. Instead, she returned to acting, a decision prompted by her growing family. Bialik has two sons with former husband Michael Stone. They claimed their approach to parenting demanded they be accessible to their kids, not stuck in a lab.
"I'm glad that I completed my PhD, and I'm very proud of it," Bialik said, "but the life of a research professor would not have suited my needs in terms of what kind of parenting I wanted to do."
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(#5) She Writes About Judaism And Founded A Center For Jewish Spirituality And Animal Rights
Bialik has become an unofficial advisor on all things Judaism, especially squaring faith with the challenges of the modern world. She has written several articles about faith issues and the ways she integrates Judaism into her life. Bialik also helped found the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute, an animal rights organization rooted in Jewish spirituality and tradition.
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(#6) She's A Lactation Counselor
A prominent advocate for breastfeeding, Bialik is a Certified Lactation Educator Counselor - and doesn't charge for her services. Bialik also speaks candidly about her views on the topic:
I love that it's meeting a very valuable need nutritionally, immunologically, and emotionally. In the first days of a baby's life, he's taught that you know what he needs. It's one of the best lessons they can learn, and it only grows as they get older.
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(#7) She Advocates 'Attachment Parenting'
Bialik draws a lot of attention regarding how she and her ex-husband raise their kids. She subscribes to "attachment parenting," which focuses on consistently developing the bond between parent and child by encouraging activities like co-sleeping, carrying babies, and breastfeeding for an extended period.
Bialik even wrote a book about attachment parenting, entitled Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way. As she told Time, her decision to practice attachment parenting stems from seeing the benefits it provides both parent and child:
We saw friends parenting before we had kids and saw some really interesting relationships emerging that weren’t governed by fear or force. Their children were expressing themselves appropriately without ruling their parents’ lives. I saw it matters that very small people have a voice.
In the past, Bialik received criticism for her parenting methods, but she stands by them.
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(#8) She's Vegan
Bialik's vegan cookbook, Mayim's Vegan Table: More than 100 Great-Tasting and Healthy Recipes from My Family to Yours, takes a family and budget-friendly approach to the topic of vegan cooking. The book also includes cooking tips and advice for stocking a plant-based kitchen. Bialik described her approach to penning the book:
I really tried to make a book that was approachable and normal, things I actually make for my kids and my friends. A lot of cookbooks have unusual ingredients or unusual standards for nutrition... [but] we wanted to present plant-based options in a non-threatening way. The goal was actual recipes that actual parents can make easily and inexpensively with things that are pretty much in their pantry already.
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(#9) She Wrote A Polarizing Op-Ed About Sexual Harassment In The Entertainment Industry
In 2017, Bialik stirred up controversy when she wrote a polarizing opinion piece for The New York Times. Though she discussed being a woman in the entertainment industry and her reactions to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Bialik seemed to imply women bear responsibility for the harassment they've endured:
I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise. I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy...
In a perfect world, women should be free to act however they want. But our world isn’t perfect. Nothing - absolutely nothing - excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. But we can’t be naive about the culture we live in.
The backlash to her op-ed was swift and brutal. Bialik apologized days later:
Let me say clearly and explicitly that I am very sorry. What you wear and how you behave does not provide any protection from assault, nor does the way you dress or act in any way make you responsible for being assaulted; you are never responsible for being assaulted.
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(#10) She Made Confusing Statements About Childhood Vaccines
In another moment that brought Bialik a firestorm of controversy, she seemingly criticized childhood vaccinations. In 2009, she told People:
We are a non-vaccinating family, but I make no claims about people’s individual decisions. We based ours on research and discussions with our pediatrician, and we’ve been happy with that decision, but obviously, there’s a lot of controversy about it.
In 2015, though, Bialik took to Twitter and stated her children are indeed vaccinated. Regardless, many criticized Bialik for her initial statements.
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(#11) She's Written Books For Both Boys And Girls
Bialik penned the non-fiction volumes Girling Up: How To Be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular and Boying Up: How To Be Brave, Bold, and Brilliant. She says a desire for more positive female mentors and role models served as a catalyst for writing the first book, while her personal experience raising two sons inspired the second. She told Parade:
Culture plays such an important role in how we relate to each other, and I think we see it very early. Boys and girls do tend to be different, but finding the common emotions and understanding that we are fundamentally made of the same things is important.
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(#12) She Remains Open About Her Battle With Depression
Despite her career in comedy, Bialik remains open about her ongoing battle with depression. In 2018, she spoke out about her experiences with therapy, encouraging others not to give up on seeking treatment. She even filmed a short PSA about it, saying:
What I would like to tell my younger self about mental health is that there are answers... For me, some of those answers I had to wait years to find, and I needed to get different help, which ended up being the right kind of help.
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(#13) She Identifies As A Feminist
Bialik remains outspoken about feminist issues. For instance, she once discussed how much she hates when women are called "girls:"
When we use words to describe adult women that are typically used to describe children, it changes the way we view women - even unconsciously, so that we don’t equate them with adult men. In fact, it implies that they’re inferior to men.
Bialik has also drawn ire, however, particularly from those who feel her position as an avowed Zionist stands at odds with feminism. Bialik responded:
As a feminist Zionist, I can’t believe I am being asked to choose or even defend my religious, historical, and cultural identity. The "left" needs to reexamine the microscope they use to look at Israel, and we all need to take a step back and remember we are stronger together: women, men, lovers of peace, and lovers of freedom and justice.
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(#14) She Calls Herself 'A Staunch Zionist'
Bialik calls herself "a staunch Zionist." She explained to the Jewish Telegraph:
I have plenty of family all over Israel. Some live in the West Bank, but others live on kibbutzim, so I feel like I have a broad understanding of the situation over there. The country is not perfect, and I do not doubt that it needs strong leadership because circumstances are evolving all the time. However, I do think that to fully comment and understand then one should live there and truly live the situation.
Her public support of Israel has drawn criticism over the years, but Bialik says she's "happy to take that public bullet for the state."
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(#15) Her First Kiss Was With Johnny Galecki
In 1991, 14-year-old Bialik and future The Big Bang Theory costar Johnny Galecki shared a kiss on an episode of Blossom. It marks the first onscreen kiss for both. Bialik later admitted it was possibly her first kiss ever. In 2016, the pair recreated the smooch during an appearance on Conan.
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(#16) She Plays Piano, Trumpet, Bass, And Harp
Bialik is a multi-talented instrumentalist on top of being an actor and neuroscientist. She plays piano, trumpet, and bass guitar. And when she learned her The Big Bang Theory character was a harpist, Bialik learned how to play the harp, too.
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(#17) She Was In A Serious Car Accident In 2012
In 2012, a serious car accident involving Bialik resulted in severe injury to her right hand. "I have all my fingers, but a very impaired right hand. It was very bloody and scary, but I am okay," she wrote. While driving in Hollywood, someone turned directly into her vehicle.
A year later, Bialik filed a lawsuit against the driver and the rental car agency through which he obtained the vehicle. A source told TMZ "her finger was almost completely severed." Bialik sought damages including lost wages.
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It is normal that not everyone knows who is Mayim Bialik, but you must know Amy, the smart girlfriend of Sheldon in the famous TV series. Her appearance is too dazzling, which directly raises the expectations of audiences for the 4th season of The Big Bang Theory. Mayim Bialik plays a neurobiologist in the TV series, few people know she is indeed also a neurobiologist in real life.
In real life, Mayim Bialik is a very beautiful and wise woman, she does not need to wear ugly glasses and old-fashioned suits like Amy in the TV series. Here the random tool introduced 17 interesting things about this amazing actress.
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