The show's 12th season will be its last.
Kaley Cuoco is beginning to plan for her life after The Big Bang Theory.
The 32-year-old actress spoke to ET's Deidre Behar -- just before she hosted the annual Stand Up for Pits comedy benefit show in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday -- about what the end of the long-running series means to her.
"I think when we hit January, it's gonna start getting a little bit more real 'cause right now we still have a lot more season to go, but I have cried a lot of tears," she said of filming the show's 12th season. "I mean, it's 12 years of my life, we've all had a lot of ups and downs in the last 12 years we're a very close group and, you know, we have a legacy of the show."
That legacy is something that Cuoco holds dear and will "never experience again."
"It's something I'll have for the rest of my life. It's something I'll probably compare every project to, like nothing will be like Big Bang," she said. "It just is what it is. It's made me who I am. It's given me so many great things and blessings and I'll be very indebted to the show and Chuck Lorre forever."
Lorre, of course, is the show's creator, someone Cuoco would work with again in a heartbeat -- potentially in a fan-requested Big Bang spinoff focusing on her character, Penny, and her onscreen husband, Leonard.
"I would be interested in working with Chuck again, and these are Chuck's characters and it's really whatever he would want," she said.
Lorre echoed Cuoco's statements at the premiere of his new show, The Kominksy Method, which hits Netflix on Nov. 16.
"I can tell you nobody is going to be sadder than me. It's going to be really hard," Lorre told ET's Courtney Tezeno. "But we had an extraordinary run and I don't even want to think about it right now. It's hard to imagine that we're not going to do it anymore."
Of the final season, Lorre said that "everybody's working really hard to make this the best year ever."
"I think we're turning out really good episodes," he added. "Now the vibe on set is really upbeat because we know it's put-up-or-shut-up time now. We're not doing anymore after this year."
When the sad day comes where the cast must leave the set, Cuoco already knows what prop she'll be taking home with her.
"There's a piece of art in the living room set -- if you're looking at the set from the audience it's to the left -- it has a big doughnut and a robot... it's been there since the pilot and I'm going to take that home," she revealed. "It's always in my view and I've been looking at it for so many years. I think I won't know what to do unless I'm looking at it, so it needs to be in my living room."
And once she takes home that prized possession, Cuoco already knows how she'll spend her time.
"I think a lot of horses, apparently a lot of pigs, a lot of bunnies. And being home with my husband. I'm excited about that," she said. "My production company [has] a lot of projects on the horizon, so I'm very excited to put on my producer hat and kind of go down that path."
The animal portion of Cuoco's answer is no surprise to anyone who knows her, as she's long been an animal advocate. In fact, the Sunday night event was hosted by the Stand Up for Pits Foundation -- a charity that works to save lives and end abuse and discrimination of Pit Bull-type dogs -- a cause Cuoco has frequently been involved with.
"I obviously love the breed, I love all animals, everyone knows that about me. This became very important to me many, many years ago," she said. "I've had Pit Bulls for the last 10 years and I've just realized they are looked at in such a way that I just completely disagree with. I wanted to be their voice. This event is at least opening people's minds and I'm always proud to be part of it."
"I love the breed and I feel like they don't have a voice, so we have to. I'll do anything for any animal any time, but this event holds very dear to my heart. I will host it til the day I die," she added.
Watch the video below for more on Cuoco's animal-filled life:
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