Sara Gilbert Joins Netflix’s ‘Atypical’ Two Weeks After Announcing She’s Leaving ‘The Talk’
Sara Gilbert’s decision to leave The Talk is starting to make a whole lot more sense. Less than two weeks after announcing that she’s stepping down from the Emmy-winning CBS chatfest that she created — and has co-hosted — since 2010, Gilbert has joined the Netflix series Atypical.
Atypical follows Sam (played by Keir Gilchrist), an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum. Gilbert is set to play Professor Judd — a college ethics professor who is generally “irritable and chronically underwhelmed, yet capable of compassion” — in a recurring role on the upcoming third season of the dramedy series, Deadline reports. The cast also includes Michael Rapaport, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Brigette Lundy-Paine.
In addition to her new role on Atypical, Sara Gilbert will star in — and executive produce — the second season of ABC’s The Conners. Gilbert plays middle daughter Darlene Conner-Healy on the Roseanne spinoff. The new Netflix role will not interfere with Gilbert’s work on The Conners, per Entertainment Weekly.
Earlier this month, Sara Gilbert shocked fans of The Talk when she announced that she will exit the Emmy-winning CBS talk show at the end of the show’s ninth season, as previously shared by The Inquisitr.
In a tearful announcement alongside co-stars Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Eve, and Carrie Ann Inaba, Gilbert said she felt “out of balance” working on both shows. She also explained that she was not spending as much time with her three kids as she would like. Gilbert told the audience that she can no longer “do it all,” and will now focus on her family, her acting, and other opportunities.
Sara Gilbert started her acting career as a child star in the 1980s. While she been a full-time producer and cast member on The Talk since its debut in September of 2010, she has managed to continue to log acting roles — although perhaps not as many as she would have liked.
During her time on The Talk, Sara Gilbert has starred on the short-lived CBS sitcom Bad Teacher, and has made guest appearances on Supergirl and Jane the Virgin. Gilbert also showed up on Johnny Galecki’s Living Biblically— which starred her Conners boyfriend Jay R. Ferguson — and more recently appeared on the web series Weird City.
As for how she handled her crushing workload with a daily talk show in addition to multiple acting and producing gigs, Gilbert told Variety that it all boils down to her “tenacity.”
“If people tell me I can’t do something, I just keep trying for years,” Gilbert said last year. “I don’t think I’m naturally successful. I just don’t give up and don’t quit until something happens.”
