A year on from saying goodbye to herThe Big Bang Theorycharacter Penny, Kaley Cuoco is starring in a series that could not be more different.

InThe Flight Attendant, which hits streaming service Binge in Australia on Thursday, Cuoco plays an international flight attendant with a drinking problem who wakes up next to the brutally murdered body of a man she'd spent the night with.

Yeah, there are no science jokes here.

In promotingThe Flight Attendant, Cuoco has unsurprisingly been unable to avoid questions aboutBig Bang- not that she even wants to.

Watch: The Flight Attendant trailer. Post continues below video.

"Every job I get, I owe toBig Bang,"Cuoco told news.com.au. I feel strongly that way because it changed my life. I wouldn't be here without it, so it would be crazy for me to shy away from it.

"I'm so proud of that show and what we did."

The Big Bang Theoryran for 12 years and made Cuoco one of the highest paid TV stars in the world, but the 34-year-old's career begun more than a decade earlier.

In fact, her first acting credit was in 1992 thrillerQuicksand: No Escape, which was released when she was just six. Other early roles included a young Angela Chase inMy So-Called Lifeand young Ellen in Ellen DeGeneres' sitcomEllen.

In 2002, aged 16, Cuoco began starring as Bridget in8 Simple Rules, alongside John Ritter and Katey Sagal.

She toldCosmopolitanin 2014 she underwent a breast augmentation in 2004 aged 18, saying it was the "best decision" she ever made.

"I had no boobs," she explained to the magazine. "And it really was the best thing ever. I always felt ill-proportioned. My implants made me feel more confident in my body."

After8 Simple Rules, voiced Brandy in Disney cartoonBrandy & Mr. Whiskersand Kirstee in two Bratz films.

In 2007,The Big Bang Theorybegan and after a slow start in ratings, grew to television's highest rated comedy.

For two years, Cuoco secretly dated her co-star Johnny Galecki, who played Penny's on-screen boyfriend Leonard.

She only revealed the relationship in 2010, after they'd broken up.

"It was a wonderful relationship but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together. We were so protective of ourselves and the show and didn't want anything to ruin that," she told CBS Watch!.

"But that also made it sad, too. That's not the kind of relationship I want - I don't want to be hiding. We couldn't do anything. It wasn't as fun as we wanted it to be. Everyone was always asking, and we deny-deny-denied. And I'm like, 'Why am I denying this person that I love?' It took a little bit of a toll on me and I think it did for him, too. Not that I want to go traipsing down a red carpet with anyone, but there's got to be a happy medium."

The former couple continued to work together directly after their breakup - and for another 10 years after that.

"We dodged a huge bullet. Dodged a war," Cuoco said.

"But when you're dealing with two professionals who have been working since they were both four - and who kept their lives extremely private - we didn't want anything other than that. So we're not going to screw it up, and we're not going to screw it up for everyone else and make things weird. There was so much at stake, and we both knew that."

In 2011, Cuoco became engaged to addiction specialist Josh Resnik, but she told ET in 2012 they had called time on their relationship.

After years of keeping her private life under wraps, in 2013 her dating life was suddenly the topic of tabloid speculation.

All because she'd been spotted with Superman.

Of all her relationships the public knew about, this one was the most inconsequential. In July of that year, Cuoco was spotted multiple times with Henry Cavill - though they split after 10 days and only a handful of dates.

Yet somehow, this was all anyone cared about.

"I had no-one following me until I met Superman," Cuoco toldCosmopolitanin 2014.

"I've been in this business for 20 years, and my whole life I could go anywhere, do anything. There had not been one paparazzi photo of me until like several months ago. The recognition was crazy."

Not long after their short-lived romance, Cuoco met tennis star Ryan Sweeting.

After three months together, they were engaged in September 2013 and married on New Year's Eve that year.

"I admit it happened fast, but that's who I am," she said in herCosmopolitaninterview.

"When we met, I knew he was the one.

"[At my wedding], I felt like a rock star and a badass. What was amazing in that room, it was so full of love. It was like nothing I'd ever been to before, and it was exactly what we wanted it to be. It was the eighth wonder of the world, the greatest wedding of all time."