More than three years since the finale of The Big Bang Theory aired on CBS, the cast from the popular sitcom have gone on to reach some incredible career milestones.

Jim Parsons has gone on to feature in the show’s spin-off Young Sheldon, a Netflix miniseries titled Hollywood and a number of movies, among other productions. Mayim Bialik is now starring in her own sitcom by the name Call Me Kat, where she is also an executive producer.

The same is true for Kaley Cuoco, whose mystery thriller series The Flight Attendant on HBO Max has garnered widespread praise from fans and critics alike. Melissa Rauch is co-writing with her husband Winston Beigel, while also continuing to take on other acting roles.

Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg have all kept busy in one way or another since the end of Big Bang. Despite their continued success, however, there seems to be a consensus among the cast members that the Chuck Lorre series was the pinnacle of their careers.

RELATED: Everything The 'Big Bang Theory' Cast Has Been Up To In 2021

This is specifically true for Cuoco and Galecki, who played lovers Penny and Leonard on the show.

Johnny Galecki And Kaley Cuoco Also Dated In Real Life

Johnny Galecki portrayed the nerdy Leonard Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory, who for a long time was obsessed with his and his roommate’s next door neighbor, Penny. They ended up together on the show, a situation which then mirrored the real life relationship that had blossomed between Kaley Cuoco and Galecki.

The romance remained a secret for most of the two-year period in which it existed, before the two finally called it quits in 2009. The two managed to retain their friendship, despite the potential awkwardness of having to bump into each other on set after the break-up.

“We got together and just fell mad for each other for two years, but then we broke up,” Cuoco revealed in an old interview with Dax Shepard in his Armchair Podcast, as was reported by Us Weekly. “Luckily, Johnny and I came out of it so brilliantly and we’re closer today than we ever were.”

RELATED: What's Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki's Relationship Like Today?

Their colleagues did not make it easy for them either, with creator Chuck Lorre admitting that he conspired with his writing team to put the pair together in uncomfortable scenes.

Johnny Galecki And Kaley Cuoco Built Most Of Their Wealth While Working On Big Bang

Both Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco began their careers as child actors. That being said, it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to say that it was The Big Bang Theory that truly shaped their image as the bona fide stars of the screen that they are today.

Nothing demonstrates that better than the riches they accumulated over the years, with both stars currently estimated to be worth around $100 million each today. Most of that wealth was earned working in the classic CBS sitcom, now considered among one of the all-time best in the genre.

At the height of the show’s success, both Galecki and Cuoco were in the highest pay bracket, alongside Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg. Each of them was earning $1 million per episode.

RELATED: Big Bang Theory': What The Cast Is Worth Now Vs Season 1

In a beautiful show of unity, however, they all agreed to take a $100,000 pay cut per episode in order to boost the salaries paid to co-stars Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik.

Why Did Johnny Galecki And Kaley Cuoco Cry After Their Contract Negotiations?

While the immense riches that Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco enjoy today might have become the norm for them, that was not always the case. When they got to talk to the Big Bang executives about their salaries for the first time, the significance of it all left their heads spinning.

“I was with Johnny and, you know, we have a lot of the same people on our teams. So we would get all of our teams together and have these big, ridiculous meetings where we'd be talking about this,” Cuoco explained in the interview with Dax Shepard.

“And Johnny and I would sit there like, ‘Mhm, yeah, very serious.’ And then we’d walk outside and it was like ‘What?! What just happened?!’” she continued. The two knew that they were living a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which is what got them crying in their conversations later on.

“We would have these long late-night conversations where we would just be balling. Because I knew and he knew in that moment that this would never happen again,” said Cuoco. “It was unbelievable to experience. But him and I did that.”

NEXT: Kaley Cuoco Completely Lost It When The Cast Of Big Bang Theory Reunited With The Cast Of Friends