Denise Richards Recalls Telling Charlie Sheen He'd Be 'Crazy' If He Passed Up Two and a Half Men Role

The actress revealed that Sheen had planned to be part of a second series until she convinced him to take on the role of Charlie Harper on the CBS sitcom

Denise Richards reveals how she encouraged her ex-husband Charlie Sheen to take on one of his most iconic roles.

In the latest episode Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills The alum, 52, revealed that she convinced Sheen to play the role of Charlie Harper Two and a half Men.

“He got it Two and a half Men while I was pregnant [with daughter Sami]” she told host Bethenny Frankel. “He was nervous about starting a new TV show after that Spin City was cancelled. By the way, I read the script for [Two and a Half Men] and said, ‘You have to do this show.'”

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen arrive at the Golden Globe Awards on January 20, 2002.

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen relationship timeline

“He was going to do a different show,” she added. “And I read the script and I said, ‘You’re crazy not to do this.'”

Sheen was part of the cast of the series for eight seasons from 2003 to 2011. During his tenure, he earned two Golden Globe nominations and four Emmy nominations.

Richards also recalled the show’s popularity affecting Sheen’s sobriety, saying, “I think because [of] success of Two and a half Men and the money, I think that’s what caused him to go back to not being sober.”

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Although the actress said she didn’t want to speak for her ex-husband about the show’s impact, she said: “All I know is that he is no longer the person I married and he is no longer sober.”

Richards filed for divorce in 2006 while six months pregnant with the couple’s second daughter Lola, saying: “It wasn’t like I moved out and we had a little divorce.”

“When I applied, basically [Sheen] went to work, packed my suitcase and took our daughter with me [Sami], which is neither, and went to the Beverly Hills Hotel. I went to file for divorce and then went to audition for a pilot I was working on,” she added.

How Two and a half Men Creator Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen End Their 12-Year Feud: ‘It Was Healing’

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen at the premiere of ‘The Big Bounce’. SGranitz/WireImage

She claimed that her parents were “very supportive” of the marriage since Sheen, who was sober when they met, “was very different from what the public saw when he went down after all that stuff … when he got fired [from Two and a Half Men].”

Sheen was fired from Two and a half Men after insulting creator Chuck Lorre in a series of rants. He was replaced by Ashton Kutcher, who played the billionaire businessman who bought Charlie’s house after his death until the series ended in 2015.

After being fired, Sheen got sober. During an interview on ITV Relaxed women In 2019, Sheen admitted that it was difficult for him to look back at the footage of his fall.

“The feeling is terrible. I can’t sit and lie to you,” he said. “Some of it is very surreal. To this day, I’m not sure how I created such chaos and ended up in that space. It’s like there’s some alien or demonic possession going on.”

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Two years later, in February 2021, Sheen expressed regret for the way he acted in the midst of a heated public feud with Lorre.

“There were 55 different ways to deal with that situation, and I chose number 56,” he said. Yahoo! Fun. “And so, you know, I think my growth after the meltdown or the meltdown going forward or the meltdown somewhere — whatever you want to label it — has to start with absolute ownership of my role in all of this.”

Lorre and Sheen recently reconciled 12 years after a public falling out ahead of their upcoming series, How to be a bookie.

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