Jaime Pressly joined former “Mom” co-star Anna Faris to respond to series co-creator Chuck Lorre’s professional critiques.
In his recent memoir “Sitcom,” Lorre wrote that he “was, in fact, right” to be hesitant to cast Faris as the main character, Christy Plunkett. Pressly, who joined the CBS sitcom in its second season as recovering drug addict Jill Kendall, came to the defense of her “incredible women” co-stars.
“I was there for seven years, but there were eight seasons,” Pressly told E! News. “I came in the second season, but I had seven wonderful years working with an incredible crew and an incredible cast of women, all of whom were as beautifully imperfect as our characters on the show were.”
“And I think I really, really enjoyed being able to go to work with girlfriends every day,” she added. “All of us of a certain age, it was nice. It was refreshing.”
Faris left “Mom” in 2020 before its final season. At the time, she said she wanted to pursue other opportunities.
“I wasn’t sure Anna would be suitable for this kind of material,” Lorre writes in his book. “Then I thought about how badly I had ruined my working relationship with Charlie Sheen.” Lorre and Sheen had a public feud near the end of “Two and a Half Men,” which led to the actor being fired from the hit sitcom in 2011.
“Over the years, it became clear that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was actually correct,” Lorre added of Faris. “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that weren’t mysterious to anyone on the show.”
Faris responded to Lorre’s comments on Instagram on October 15: “Of course it hurts. Chuck gave me a job that I loved, and for seven years, I never took a day for granted. I’m proud of what we did together, and nothing changes how grateful I am to these people and these years.”
She continued, “I’ve been sober for a year and a half. I was on a show about recovery and then I experienced it. Now I’m healthy, I’m working and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
After Faris left the series, Pressly starred in the final season. “Mom” also starred Allison Janney, Mimi Kennedy, Beth Hall and Kristen Johnston.
Gn entert
