Chuck Lorre is spilling the beans on the eye-popping "Two and a Half Men" paydays offered in the wake of star Charlie Sheen's spectacular meltdownon the hit CBS sitcom.
In a Vanity Fair excerptfrom his upcoming memoir, "Sitcom" (out Oct. 13), Lorre details the chaos that followed Sheen's tabloid-fueled 2011 exit and the desperate attempts to keep the highly profitable sitcom going. Then-CBS chief Les Moonves made it clear to Lorre that the money train had to keep rolling, with or without Sheen.
Lorre's first big discussion was with Hugh Grant, who was being courted to play a very "Hugh Grant-type" character. While Sheen had been making approximately $1.25 million per episode, the "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star was offered $750,000 per episode and a four-day
workweek – a significant payday in 2011 for a movie star making the jump to television, something far less common at the time.
When Grant confessed he was terrified of performing in front of a live studio audience, Lorre offered to eliminate the audience altogether and use canned laughter.
"Clearly I have no moral compass," Lorre jokes about offering to can the live audience to appease Grant.
"I was told he had a pen in hand and was about to sign the contract when he abruptly walked out of the room and became 'unreachable,'" Lorre writes.
Eventually, a rep informed the producers that Grant was passing on the lucrative offer.
With Grant out, Moonves insisted that Lorre meet with Ashton Kutcher, despite the producer's concerns that the actor was too young for the character they envisioned. Kutcher ultimately landed the role of heartbroken internet billionaire Walden Schmidt, keeping "Two and a Half Men" alive for four more seasons.
And the payday? Lorre says Kutcher pocketed a whopping $63 million during his 84-episode run, while co-star Jon Cryer would win his second Emmy.
"Winning!" Lorre writes, borrowing Sheen's infamous catchphrase.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Two and a Half Men' boss reveals salary Hugh Grant rejected to replace Charlie Sheen
