Holland Taylor is speaking out about why she didn’t renew her contract on “Two and a Half Men.”
The actress spent six years as Evelyn Harper, the mother of Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer), on the CBS sitcom. She recently revealed that part of the reason she left the show was due to the small paycheck.
“They never paid me very well on that show. I was paid on that show what I had made on a series like eight years before or something,” Taylor said on the “Alchemy with Anthony Mason” podcast. “And I got four Emmy nominations, and they never gave me a raise. They usually do.”
Taylor was nominated four times for supporting actress during her time on the sitcom. After the sixth season, she declined to renew her contract and instead returned occasionally as a guest star.
“I stopped being under contract. So, in other words, they would say, ‘Can you do a guest appearance at the end of March?’ And I would say, ‘No, I cannot,’” she said. “I only did it if I wanted to do it.”
Taylor said the producers were “astonished” by her decision, but she appreciated having flexibility in scheduling.
“I loved a lot about that show, but they were not full of courtesies,” Taylor added. “In any case, when the six years were up, I said, ‘I don’t want to be on a contract anymore, but I will visit the show occasionally if you want.’ I mean, I did play the boys’ mother.”
The actress said the team thought she was negotiating and told her they could not afford to pay her more. “I said, ‘You could actually pay me the cost of this building, but don’t bother because I don’t want to continue on under contract,'” she said. “And they said, ‘But we can’t afford to give you more.’ I said, ‘I’m cool with it. I just will come back as a guest from time to time.'”
“Two and a Half Men” ran for 12 seasons from 2003 to 2015. In 2011, Sheen left the show after public struggles with substance abuse.