“Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre revealed he thinks Charlie Sheen “terrified” Melanie Lynskey when they shot his final scene for the show.
In an excerpt from Lorre’s new biography “Sitcom,” published in Vanity Fair, the famed creator remembered how the writing on the wall was there during Sheen’s final scene on the CBS show. It got so bad that his co-star Melanie Lynskey was allegedly scared to be around him.
“The last scene we shot was with Charlie and Melanie Lynskey. He couldn’t remember any of his lines and had to use the furniture to keep himself upright,” Lorre wrote. “Melanie was terrified. It was clear to everyone that this man, whom we’d all grown to love, was in trouble. I had no choice but to shut down the show.”
Lorre went on to write that after numerous excuses from Sheen calling out from shoot days – ranging from food poisoning to a lighter blowing up in his face and burning off his eyelashes – that he informed the actor they were going to do a couple more episodes and call it a season so Sheen could get some help.
“After the shutdown, I told him the plan was to shoot two more episodes then call it a season – giving him a chance to get cleaned up. He angrily insisted we shoot four more,” Lorre said. “I was emotionally exhausted and held my ground. Two more episodes, then we break for a desperately needed three-month hiatus.”
He added: “The show would wait for him to get straightened out, only resuming when he was ready. No harm, no foul. He agreed.”
It wasn’t long after that that Sheen began his now-infamous attacks on Lorre and the show to the public. It ultimately led to Sheen being written off the show – his character even killed offscreen – and a $100 million lawsuit the actor filed against the creator for the firing. It was eventually settled.
The excerpt ends with Lorre recalling the last time the two crossed paths years later. “We didn’t get into the weeds about the whole ‘Two and a Half Men’ nightmare,” Lorre noted. “It was just over.”
Lorre’s memoir releases on Oct. 13.
