Charlie Sheen's Last Episode On Two And A Half Men Was A Nightmare To Shoot Behind The Scenes
Despite his Two and a Half Men exit, Charlie Sheen was well-liked by his peers behind the scenes. Melanie Lynskey still keeps in touch with the actor sporadically, while the likes of Jane Lynch also appreciated their time alongside Charlie Sheen.
The same didn't hold true for everyone, especially the showrunners behind the scenes. In the following, we're going to take a closer look at Sheen's final days behind the scenes, and how his behavior started to change, according to co-star Jon Cryer.
In addition, we'll reveal what his final day on set was like, and why the actor ended up leaving, and skipping out on an important meeting after the shoot.
Charlie Sheen's Performance On Two And A Half Men Declined During His Final Season, According To Co-Star Jon Cryer
During season 8, his final chapter on the series, it was becoming evident for those behind the scenes that Charlie Sheen wasn't doing well. That was especially true based on his performance. According to Jon Cryer, Sheen's timing and punchlines were starting to fall behind, compared to what he was once capable of.
"Charlie didn’t look so good as we started our eighth season in fall 2010: gaunt, pale, sallow, even sweaty occasionally. He started talking to himself. Most of all he just looked thinner, in a not-good way," Cryer revealed with the Hollywood Reporter.
"His timing started to go off, too. He was rushing lines. Charlie just wasn’t hitting the jokes the way he used to. One time during rehearsals to choreograph the movement for a scene, he asked, “Can I just stand next to this couch?” He wanted to hold on to it for the duration of the scene."
That was just the start of his demise, as Cryer would also admit to Sheen making poor decisions off-camera especially at that time. Ultimately, season 8 would be his last, as the actor spiraled down the stretch.
Jon Cryer Revealed Charlie Sheen's Last Day On Set Was A Mess, And The Actor Skipped Out On His Post-Show Meeting
During the 2011 tapings in January, Sheen was told he would have to meet with Chuck Lorre's and the showrunners. It was at that point, in which things completely fell apart for Sheen.
Cryer revealed, "This official-meeting shit was the kind of thing that drove Charlie up a wall. Backstage, he was talking to himself and getting madder and madder."
"Gabe and Janice, his respective makeup and hair people, were trying to do their jobs while he fidgeted and smoked. He started to get manic as he psyched himself for what he assumed was a meeting of incredible importance."
Charlie was eventually calmed by his fellow co-star Jon Cryer, but it didn't make his final shoot any easier.
"Things didn’t start smoothly once the show began. We did a scene with the two of us sitting on a couch, and Charlie screwed up every line. He could not remember anything he was supposed to say. It was hard to comprehend what I was seeing because Charlie had always prided himself on getting it done on show night."
Somehow, Sheen was able to regroup after a few brief minutes, and delivered every single line to perfection.
However, once the taping finished, he was off and never seen again on-set.
"Instead of sticking around after the taping, however, Charlie chose to walk out, still in full makeup, get in his car and have his driver take him home. He left Bruce Rosenblum and Peter Roth just standing by his trailer."
Cryer continues, "And with that, we all accepted that something was truly broken here, that Charlie couldn’t be counted on to even go through the motions anymore. That was the last episode of Two and a Half Men Charlie would ever shoot."
There was a chance for Sheen to return on finale night, but even that was completely squandered.
Charlie Sheen Was Open For A Return During The Finale, But Both Sides Couldn't Come To Terms On A Creative Decision
Charlie Sheen was in fact open to a return. Sheen had an idea for it creatively, and it involved an emotional reunion alongside Jon Cryer.
Chuck Lorre explained, "He wanted us to write a heart-warming scene that would set up his return to primetime TV in a new sitcom called The Harpers starring him and Jon Cryer.”
Although the idea had great potential, it was Lorre's request instead that completely turned off the actor.
"Our idea was to have him walk up to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse,” Lorre wrote on the card.
“He would then explain that these dangers only applied to average people. That he was far from average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible. And then we would drop a piano on him. We thought it was funny. He didn’t."
The Two and a Half Men finale will always go down in history among the more disappointing of all-time.
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