Producer Chuck Lorre claimed that Melanie Lynskey became “terrified” of Charlie Sheen while filming the last episode of “Two and a Half Men.”
Lorre, the creator behind the series, made the claim in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, “Sitcom,” which was featured Friday in Vanity Fair.
“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 in the book.
“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,” he continued.
Reps for Sheen and Lynskey did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Sheen starred as Charlie Harper on the hit TV show for eight seasons, while Lynskey played his neighbor, Rose.
However, the actor exited the show in 2011 after a series of incidents, including erratic public behavior and substance abuse, like his famous 2010 hotel room incident at The Plaza in New York City.
Lorre detailed the “anxiety” that the cast and crew felt about Sheen during their last season of filming.
“The next few months, we worked in a constant state of anxiety. We’d shoot the show on Friday nights and wish each other a pleasant weekend, all the while afraid of what might happen to our star between now and Tuesday morning. (Remember? Four-day workweek),” Lorre wrote in the excerpt.
“Even worse, every two weeks, the cast got a full week off. That meant 10 days where Charlie’s life and the lives of those around him were in jeopardy,” he wrote.
The show was placed on a hiatus, and never returned to air.
In 2023, Lorre said in an interview that he had mended his relationship with Sheen after their public falling out. In 2011, Sheen had called the producer a “little maggot” and hurled other insults at him.
The two patched things up after Lorre realized that Sheen would be perfect to cast in his comedy series on Max, “Bookie.”
“I was nervous, but almost as soon as we started talking, I remembered, we were friends once,” the director told Variety in a 2023 interview. “And that friendship just suddenly seemed to be there again.”
“I don’t want to be too mawkish about it, but it was healing,” Lorre continued. “And he was also totally game to make fun of himself. When he came to the table read of that episode, I walked up, and we hugged. It was just great.”
“I loved working with Charlie on ‘Two and a Half Men.’ We did 170 episodes together before it all fell apart. And more often than not, we had a good time,” he added. “Assuming he’s in a good place, I’m in a good place.”
