Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen are back in action after the public meltdown that led to the actor being fired from the hit show “Two and a Half Men.”
Sheen is starring in the TV writer’s latest project, “Bookie.” Lorre recalls his “humiliating” past and what his first reading session with Sheen was like after all these years.
Lorre told “Entertainment Tonight.” “We are friends, we work together and we put on a show that we are proud of. We laughed a lot. It was a crazy, edgy, adventurous show and we were so proud to push the envelope.”
“And then it all went downhill in a very dark and difficult way,” he continued. “It’s really painful, it’s humiliating, it’s depressing, it’s angry. These are all terrible things. I couldn’t watch the show for a long time, I couldn’t watch the reruns, it was too painful.” .”
Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen have reconciled after the actor’s public meltdown during the “Two and a Half Men” era. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Sheen publicly attacked Lorre in 2011 after the creator stopped production on “Two and a Half Men” when the “Anger Management” star entered rehab. At that time, the actor wrote to TMZ calling Lorre a “little maggot” and also called him a “stupid, stupid person.”
Public comments and an interview in which Sheen said he had “won” and had “tiger blood” led to Sheen being fired from the show.
Now he joins Lorre again to portray a fictionalized version of himself alongside comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who plays a Los Angeles bookie.
Chuck Lorre, the creator of “Two and a Half Men,” fired Charlie Sheen in 2011 after the actor made disparaging comments about the TV writer in an open letter to TMZ. (Beautiful images)
“I was hoping that Charlie was in a good place and ready for it,” Lorre told the outlet. “I called his agent… they put me in touch with Charlie, and I said, ‘This is a funny idea.’”
“He couldn’t have been more kind, enthusiastic and generous throughout the whole thing,” he added. “The first time we talked on the phone for maybe an hour and I sent him the script – because I asked him to play himself, a fictionalized version of himself, and I wanted respect that that’s what he does.” will be comfortable with.”
Charlie Sheen trở lại truyền hình vào năm 2012, nhưng cả hai vẫn chưa hòa giải cho đến khi Chuck Lorre đề nghị nam diễn viên thực hiện dự án mới nhất của anh, “Bookie”. (Reuters)
Sheen đã yêu cầu Lorre thay đổi một phần của kịch bản, người viết truyền hình nói với hãng tin này.
“Anh ấy nói, ‘Chúng ta có thể không xử lý kẻ nghiện ma túy Charlie không?’ và tôi nói, ‘Ừ, hãy suy nghĩ về điều đó và tìm ra cách khác để giải quyết vấn đề này’,” anh nói. Nhân vật của Sheen cuối cùng đã chơi bài poker tại một trại cai nghiện mà anh từng tham dự sau khi tỉnh táo.
Lorre nhớ lại: “Đó là một câu nói vô nghĩa khi anh ấy nói, ‘Đó là một cuộc cai nghiện tuyệt vời, tôi đã đến đây nhiều lần’”. “Tôi không muốn làm bất cứ điều gì tổn thương. Tôi nghĩ anh ấy đã giúp ích rất nhiều cho chúng tôi khi làm điều này để tự chơi. Và nếu điều đó khiến anh ấy khó chịu, tôi không muốn anh ấy khó chịu.”
Charlie Sheen played Angus T. Jones’s uncle on “Two and a Half Men” before being fired from the show in 2011. (Cliff Lipson/CBS Photo Archive)
For Lorre, the first table read with the actor was “closed” all those years after the TV series “Two and a Half Men” and he believes it was the same with Sheen.
“The first time I saw him [was] before reading the first episode, it started off so tense,” he shared. “It’s just the most natural thing in the world. The two of us hugged… That was the end. It has been healed. And that is a big burden on my heart.”
“And I don’t want to speak for Charlie, but I think he feels the same thing,” Lorre added. “It was a great opportunity for us to bury that darkness and have some fun.”
A representative for Sheen did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
