Kaley Cuoco is getting candid about the highs and lows of her career, from the "explosion of money and fame" on The Big Bang Theory to feeling like an outsider on the set of Charmed.

In a new interview, the 40-year-old actress reflected on her 12-season run as Penny on the beloved CBS sitcom, acknowledging that the massive success inevitably came with tension behind the scenes. "It was an explosion of money and fame and became something so much bigger than any of us could have imagined," Cuoco shared. "So of course there was a little bit of drama."

The Emmy-nominated star addressed the highly publicised salary negotiations during the show's later seasons, when she and her co-stars were making $1 million per episode before being asked to take pay cuts. "Would anyone want people sharing what they make? Or comparing what they make to other people?" she questioned.

Now, Cuoco is promoting her new action thriller series Vanished. She approaches each project with realistic expectations. "I understand the business. I go into things hoping they'll resonate, but I'm also very realistic," she said. "Someone's gonna like it, and someone's not, and that's all that art is."