[6][7][8][9] Parsons made his Broadway debut portraying Tommy Boatwright in the Larry Kramer play The Normal Heart (2011).

In film, Parsons has voiced the lead character in Home (2015) and played supporting roles in Hidden Figures (2016), A Kid Like Jake (2018), Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019), The Boys in the Band (2020), and Spoiler Alert (2022).

On television he was Emmy-nominated for playing Tommy Boatwright in the HBO film The Normal Heart (2011) and Henry Willson in the Netflix series Hollywood (2020).

[10][11][12] After playing the role of the Kola-Kola bird in a school production of The Elephant's Child at age six, Parsons was determined to become an actor.

"[15] Parsons credits his University of San Diego training with giving him the tools to break down Sheldon's lines.

[10] Television critic Andrew Dansby compares Parsons's physical comedy to that of Buster Keaton and other silent film stars.

"[15] Lorre describes Parsons' "great sense of control over every part of his body, the way he walks, holds his hands, cocks his head, the facial tics as 'inspired'.

"[14] In August 2009, Parsons won the Television Critics Association award for individual achievement in comedy, beating Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Neil Patrick Harris.

[20] Parsons was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, winning in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.

[25] In August 2014, Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco once again signed new contracts, guaranteeing each of them $1 million per episode for the eighth, ninth, and tenth seasons of The Big Bang Theory, as well as quadrupling their percentage of the show's earnings to over 1% each.

[26] In 2011, Parsons appeared with Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Rashida Jones in the comedy film The Big Year.

[29][30] He reprised the role in The Normal Heart (2014), and he received his seventh Emmy nomination, this time in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.

[32] Parsons and Todd Spiewak founded That's Wonderful Productions in 2015 with the intention of raising distinct voices and producing work with an underlying sense of purpose and social consciousness.

[36] In 2016, Jim Parsons played a supporting role as STG (special task group) head engineer Paul Stafford in the biographical drama film Hidden Figures.

The producers simultaneously announced that, after 279 episodes, the most of any multi-camera series in TV history, the show would come to an "epic, creative close" in May 2019.

For his performance he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

He is set to star as the Stage Manager in the revival of the Thorton Wilder play Our Town at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

[46] Parsons lives in the New York City[47] neighborhood Gramercy Park[48] while also maintaining a residence in Los Angeles.