Jon Cryer Was 'Exhausted' by the Time “Two and a Half Men” Ended (Exclusive)
Jon Cryer Was 'Exhausted' by the Time “Two and a Half Men” Ended (Exclusive)
Victoria EdelMon, June 29, 2026 at 5:02 PM UTC
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Jon Cryer in 'Two and a Half Men'Credit: CBS -
Jon Cryer opens up to PEOPLE about how 'exhausted' he was by the time Two and a Half Men ended
Cryer starred in the series as Alan Harper for all 12 of the show's seasons
Cryer explains that he wanted to explore 'other characters'
When it was time for Two and a Half Men to end, Jon Cryer was ready.
Cryer, 61, played Alan Harper on the show, which ran from 2003 to 2015. In the series, he and Charlie Sheen's Charlie Harper were brothers who were raising Angus T. Jones' Jake, Alan's son. Sheen, 60, ultimately left the show in 2011 and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher, who played Walden Schmidt, a billionaire who buys the house after Charlie's death.
“I had felt like I had done so much of Alan that I was starting to run out of places to go with the character,” Cryer tells PEOPLE about his mindset when the series was ending. “The writers had done amazing work coming up with new stuff and really doing wonderful things with the character, but I had become exhausted with it.”
Cryer explains that when Sheen left the show, “We had to sort of remake what the show was.” He calls that “an amazing experience” to go through and praises the show's writing staff as “so talented,” but says that after 12 seasons, he was eventually ready to move on.
From left: Charlie Sheen, Angus T. Jones and Jon Cryer in 'Two and a Half Men'Credit: CBS
Cryer points out another actor, Kelsey Grammer, who took on a longterm role in his own series, playing Frasier Crane on Cheers and then on the spin-off Frasier, bringing the character's TV tenure to 20 years. Still, he wanted something different for his own life.
“That's amazing. He's a really singular talent, but I just felt like that there were other characters I wanted to do,” Cryer says.
Cryer won two Emmys for his time on Two and a Half Men: outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 2009 and outstanding lead actor in a comedy series in 2012.
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After the series aired, Cryer starred as Lex Luthor in CW's Supergirl, from 2019 to 2021. He also starred on the NBC sitcom Extended Family and in the 2019 film Big Time Adolescence.
This summer, he stars in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, the word pronouncer and judge who guides the musical's pre-teens (actually played by adults) as they compete for the coveted title of county spelling champ. The award-winning revival of William Finn's hilarious comedy, directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo, Dear Evan Hansen), is playing Off-Broadway at New York's New World Stages.
From left: Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer in 'Two and a Half Men'Credit: CBS
Cryer tells PEOPLE that the “hardest part” of doing the musical is that “I used to be on a TV show, and thus, just my presence can throw off the sort of balance of the show.”
He explained, “The show's an amazing ensemble show. And so what I did not want to do is throw off the balance of an already great show.”
The cast, which includes Glee alum Kevin McHale, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Lilli Cooper, Autumn Best and Justin Cooley, have been “excellent” and “lovely,” he says. “My job is really, how do I fit in?” he says. “How do I enhance what I can enhance in the show without throwing off what made it so great to begin with?”
Cryer got his start on the stage, making his Broadway debut in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy in 1982. He later joined the original production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1984. Then in 1986, he had his breakthrough role as Duckie in Pretty in Pink, opposite Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy.
Tickets for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are available now. The show runs until Sept. 6.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
