Mayim Bialik talks guest-hosting 'Jeopardy!': 'There's a lot of iconic pressure'

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Mayim Bialik is opening up about one of her upcoming gigs: guest-hosting "Jeopardy!" -- and the "pressure" that comes with it.

The "Big Bang Theory" alum and neuroscientist, 45, is set to serve as one of the game show's guest hosts following Alex Trebek’s death in November.

"There's a lot of responsibility that falls on the host," Bialik told People magazine on Thursday. "I think also there's a lot of iconic pressure. When I was looking over some of the scripts, I was thinking, how would Alex [Trebek] say this? And that's probably not who I'm expected to be, Alex Trebek, but in my head, I am Alex Trebek — that's who I want to be."

After the death of the beloved game show host, "Jeopardy!" has been hosted by a number of celebrities who partake in two-week stints.

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Mayim Bialik says there's an 'iconic pressure' in guest-hosting 'Jeopardy!' (REUTERS/Danny Moloshok )

In the interview, Bialik notes that although she didn’t grow up watching the game show, she's still very excited over her upcoming hosting gig. 

"It wasn't like, a cultural cornerstone of my parents' and my life growing up, but obviously I've watched it [since]," she explained. "I've been an answer, I think two or three times, which is crazy."

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The actress added: "I've been saying it's really one of the most iconic things I think that I'm ever going to do in my career. It's going to feel like Forrest Gump, like I've been inserted into the ‘Jeopardy!’ set."

Bialik also pointed out that the gig contains "a lot of responsibility" and is not there to showcase her "personality."

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Mayim Bialik is set to guest host 'Jeopardy!' in the future. (Reuters)

"The idea is not to bring my personality to ‘Jeopardy!,’ it's to provide a service as the host for those episodes to the best of my ability," she said.

And despite holding a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the actress expressed doubts about how well she would fare if she were ever to be a contestant on "Jeopardy!"

"It's funny, because there are different kinds of smart. ‘Jeopardy!’ smart is a category that I'm not really," she pointed out. "I have a specific group of knowledge that I can handle, but I think every single time, if I was a contestant, I would forget to phrase the answer as a question."

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"Jeopardy!" superstar Ken Jennings hosted the show for six weeks following Trebek’s death, before executive producer Mike Richards took over and received a warm welcome from "Jeopardy!" viewers. 

Katie Couric is set to host the game through Friday. Aaron Rodgers, Dr. Oz and other celebrities are also set to host the show in the future.

Bialik’s host dates have not yet been announced.