Jon Cryer has revealed that he earned a far lower salary than Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, despite his co-star’s many controversies. Cryer played Alan Harper on all 12 seasons of the CBS sitcom, while Sheen was infamously fired from the show in Season 8.
Cryer reflected on his complicated history with both Two and a Half Men and Sheen as part of the new Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen (via Entertainment Weekly). The actor identified a key moment where his relationship with Sheen deteriorated beyond repair during contract negotiations. “He’s in the midst of falling apart in every way that I can imagine, and he’s renegotiating his contract for another year of a show that I’m supposed to be on, too,” Cryer recalled.
Cryer compared Sheen to the former “dictator of North Korea” Kim Jong-Il, who was notorious for his unpredictable conduct on the world stage. “[Kim] acted crazy all the time and thus got enormous amounts of aid from countries who were so scared of him that they would shovel money at him,” Cryer pointed out.
“Well, that’s what happened here. [Sheen’s] negotiations went off the charts because his life was falling apart. Me, whose life was pretty good at that time, I got a third of that.” Representatives for Warner Bros TV and Sheen have not commented on Cryer’s claims.
Jon Cryer Says Two and a Half Men Producers Spent ‘Astonishing Amounts of Money’ on Troubled Charlie Sheen
Image via CBS
Sheen’s erratic behavior set the stage for a tense atmosphere on the Two and a Half Men set because CBS and Warner Bros TV had already “pre-sold a couple extra seasons of the show,” according to Cryer. The Alan Harper actor explained that the complex financial situation gave CBS a reason to “spend this astonishing amount of money on Charlie,” despite Sheen’s imploding personal life.
Sheen’s controversial departure from Two and a Half Men played out in 2011 when he failed to show up for work repeatedly during production on Season 8. The future of Two and a Half Men was eventually thrown into doubt entirely when Sheen gave a series of TV interviews where he appeared erratic, throwing out catchphrases like “tiger blood” and “adonis DNA.” Sheen’s Two and a Half Men contract was ultimately terminated in March 2011, with Ashton Kutcher being brought on board as a replacement for Season 9.
Aka Charlie Sheen viewers hear Sheen’s side of the story, too, as he admits he was sick of the grind of Two and a Half Men prior to his public meltdown. “I remember saying, ‘Dude, I dunno man. I’m feeling emotionally done there,'” Sheen remembers. “‘And I get there’s a ton of money at stake, and I get there’s a lot more juice to be squeezed out of this thing, but I don’t know how much juice is left in me. And I do fear if I go back, it’s gonna go terribly wrong.’ I said those words.”
Cryer and Sheen remain estranged to this day. While Cryer agreed to give an interview for aka Charlie Sheen, he was not contacted personally by Sheen to get involved, like most other participants. “The only person I didn’t call personally to participate in the doc was Jon [Cryer].” Sheen told People. “And the only reason I didn’t call him was because I didn’t have the right number for him, so the director reached out to him.”
Still, Sheen expressed hope of a reconciliation because of the way Cryer spoke so “honestly and very compassionately” in the documentary. Sheen revealed that he recently wrote to Cryer to thank him for his kind words, though he didn’t hear back. “I’m thinking I wrote to the wrong number,” Sheen said. “It’s not like Jon did not respond. He’s super responsible like that. So if you’re reading this, Jon, DM me your new number.” Cryer hasn’t revealed whether he contacted Sheen back.
Aka Charlie Sheen is now playing on Netflix.
Release Date
2003 – 2015-00-00
Showrunner
Chuck Lorre
Angus T. Jones
Jake Harper
Ashton Kutcher
Walden Schmidt