IR Print Interview: Jon Cryer For "Two & A Half Men" [CBS TCA]
Revolving in notions of what is said and not said has never been more truthful in the drama of "Two & A Half Men" over the past year. Jon Cryer, long the unsung hero of the show as Alan because of his ability to sacrifice dignity at times for the sake of a joke, spoke to The Inside Reel's Tim Wassberg on the texture that makes the show more than it might seem.
Tim Wassberg: Can you talk about the story progression on the show after the loss of Charlie?
Jon Cryer: First of all, it was very strange to have the plots hang on Alan which happened a few times last season but was unusual still for me. What's been nice about the last few episodes we've been shooting is that it has mostly been hanging on Walden [Ashton's character] (sighs) just like old good times. I think the hardest episode for me to do is when Alan lost it and started thinking he was Charlie...because to find a tone that worked was difficult. The writing came through so strongly on that episode that it did alot of the work for me. I'd love to take credit (chuckling) but it was mostly the writing.
TW: But you had to angle the comedy differently though to make that angle work.
JC: Yes. Because we didn't want to do an impression. We thought that would be inappropriate but we had to sort of embody who he was and who Charlie Harper was...and not obviously what Charlie Sheen was. I don't know. It felt like very risky territory but I feel like we got away with it. And we had to deal with it in some respect. When you lose a sibling, it's a devastating experience and obviously dealing with it in any way comedically is hard. But I think the writers have jumped through some really amazing hoops on this.
TW: Do you feel that Alan is a more confident character now?He gets full of himself because he's actually on the board [of Walden's company] and has an actual job. But I don't know how long that's going to last.
TW: Is this different perspective of who Alan thinks he is manifested differently for you through both the physical and emotional comedy?
JC: Part of what's always been fun is that Alan is "Job" [from the Bible]. He gets humiliated, dresses in women's clothing and has no dignity whatsoever. And that's great. I'm happy to continue that. But what I am doing hasn't really changed. It's just a small change in the dynamic of the scenes in a general sense.