Chuck Lorre claims Les Moonves made ‘no f---ing way’ gesture at Jon Cryer’s “Two and a Half Men” audition

Ryan ColemanSun, October 18, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC

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Chuck Lorre; Les Moonves; Jon CryerCredit: Presley Ann/Getty;Barry Brecheisen/Getty;Lorre writes in his new memoir that upon making clear he was considering Cryer for one of his leads, he was told ‘Les will not be happy.’Key Points -

Chuck Lorre is looking back on the contentious decision to cast Jon Cryer on Two and a Half Men.

In his new memoir, Sitcom, Lorre claims that while he was developing the sitcom, he was told by CBS’ head of casting, “We don’t want to hear the words Jon Cryer.”

But Lorre brought Cryer in anyway, recalling “a grim Les Moonves” who “sat with his arms folded, body language for ‘no f---ing way.’”

The story of every successful sitcom conceals dozens of stories of how things almost went terribly wrong.

Case in point, the casting of Two and a Half Men, one of the longest-running and most popular sitcoms of the 21st century.

In his new memoir, Sitcom, series creator Chuck Lorre looks back on casting the series’ titular men —Charlie Sheen, who portrayed easy-living bachelor Charlie Harper; Angus T. Jones, who portrayed his chillaxed nephew, Jake Harper; and Jon Cryer, who portrayed the uptight Alan Harper — Charlie’s brother and Jake’s father.

Though Sheen departed the sitcom under dramatic circumstances in its eighth season, the series thrived while the three actors formed its core. But according to Lorre, Cryer’s casting faced significant pushback.

Cryer on ‘Two and a Half Men’Credit: CBS

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While developing Two and a Half Men, Lorre writes that he “got a call from the head of casting for CBS, who will remain nameless since he doesn’t come off well in this story. He asked me where I was at with casting Charlie’s brother. Before I could answer, the unnamed head of casting said, ‘Just be warned, we don’t want to hear the words ‘Jon Cryer.’”

Lorre explained that he’d worked with the Pretty in Pink star on the sitcom Dharma and Greg, which he co-created with Dottie Dartland, and “was always impressed by him. So I asked why. I was told... yep, you know where this is going... he was the death of comedy. How did they arrive at that conclusion? Simple. He’d been cast on several failed pilots and series, ergo he must be to blame. All by himself. Jon Cryer, the beloved ‘Duckie’ in Pretty in Pink, was the death of comedy.”

Despite the network’s best efforts to keep Cryer off the casting couch, Lorre’s longtime casting director, Nikki Valko, told Lorre he “had to read Cryer for the part. I told her about the CBS embargo. She did not care. I did as I was told and had Jon come in and read a few scenes. Nikki was right. He was perfect.”

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“The day before we went into CBS to show them our choices for Charlie’s brother and nephew, Peter Golden, oops, I mean the unnamed head of casting, called and asked who I’d be bringing in,” Lorre continued.

The future creator of hits like The Big Bang Theory and Mom broke the news that Cryer would be making an appearance, which was met by the response: “Les will not be happy.” That would be Leslie Moonves, the powerful former CEO of CBS, who resigned in 2018 after a 12-year reign amid a cascade of misconduct allegations.

Lorre writes that Cryer was “well aware of the amount of hostility aimed at him. A grim Les Moonves sat with his arms folded, body language for ‘no f---ing way.’ His lieutenants bookended him, also with arms crossed. Body language for ‘I feel the same way Les feels.’ And despite all that, Jon nailed it. His chemistry with Charlie was everything I could’ve hoped for... The three of them left the audition with me wildly applauding—­ all by myself. Les looked back at me, eyebrow raised.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Lorre, Moonves, and Cryer for comment.

Cover of Chuck Lorre’s ‘Sitcom’

To the network’s point, Cryer had starred in a number of pilots that had either failed to get picked up, or went on to air only to bomb after a handful of episodes.

There was It’s Good to Be King, a sitcom Lorre himself developed that was set to star Cryer and Jim Belushi, which the latter actor bowed out of in 1996. Then there was The Famous Teddy Z, which followed Cryer’s Theodore “Teddy” Zakalokis, a reluctant talent agent. Though the series earned two Emmy nominations, CBS killed it midway through its first season in 1990, leaving five episodes guest starring the likes of Bebe Neuwirth, Barbara Tyson, and Robert Culp unaired.

Lorre and Cryer did strike gold with Two and a Half Men, however, which dominated primetime throughout its 12-season run and netted Cryer two Emmys.

on Entertainment Weekly

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