NEED TO KNOW
Holland Taylor explained why she ended her contract on Two and a half men
Taylor said that despite receiving four Emmy nominations for the series, she never got a raise.
She played Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer’s mother on the show and said she “loved” the show.
Holland Taylor received four Emmy nominations for his role in Two and a half menbut she says the accolades have not been accompanied by a raise.
Taylor, 83, appeared on the Wednesday, October 21, episode of Alchemy with Anthony Mason and spoke about her experience on the CBS series, which premiered in 2003. In the series, she played Evelyn Harper, the mother of Charlie Sheen’s Charlie and Jon Cryer’s Alan. Evelyn was a prominent Los Angeles real estate agent, often very vain.
A television veteran who previously won an Emmy for her role in The practice in 1999, his role in Two and a half men she earned Emmy nominations in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010, but when her contract for the series expired, she did not renew it.
Holland Taylor (left) and Charlie Sheen in “Two and a Half Men”
Credit: Mitchell Haddad/Warner Bros.
“I stopped being under contract. So in other words, they were like, ‘Can you make an appearance at the end of March?’ And I would say, “No, I can’t. “I only did it if I wanted to,” she explained. She said the decision not to accept another contract was “absolutely” her choice.
“They were actually surprised because when your contract expires, that’s usually the time people back out,” she said. “And they never paid me very well for that show. I got paid for that show what I did on a show eight years before or something like that.”
THE Legally blonde The actress continued, “And I’ve had four Emmy nominations and they’ve never given me a raise. They usually do.”
“I really liked that show, but it wasn’t full of civility,” she said. “Anyway, once the six years were up, I said, ‘I don’t want to be under contract anymore but I’ll come to the show every once in a while if you want.’ I mean, I played the boys’ mother.”
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Holland Taylor (left) and Jon Cryer reunite at the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards
Credit: Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
Two and a half men was a major success for CBS. Chuck Lorre, who co-created the series with Lee Aronsohn, did not mention Taylor in his recent memoir, Situation comedybut noted that her character was based on her real mother, Mimi. “If you were ever curious where Charlie and Alan’s toxic mother came from, Two and a half menjust think Mimi, but with money,” he wrote.
In the book, Lorre, 74, notes that at one point, Sheen, 61, “negotiated for more money and a four-day work week.” He said Sheen “made about $1.25 million per episode. Maybe more” when he was fired from the show near the end of the show’s eighth season.
Cryer claimed in 2025 Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen that he received “a third” of Sheen’s salary at the time his costar left the show. Cryer earned around $620,000 per episode during the show’s 11th season. The Hollywood Reporter reported in 2013. Sheen was replaced by Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt and THR reported that he was making $700,000 per episode at the same time.
Two and a half men ultimately ran for 12 seasons and 262 episodes, ending in 2015.
In total, Taylor has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards; his most recent was a 2024 nomination for his role in The morning show. In 2013, she was nominated for a Tony for her performance in her one-woman show Annebased on the life of the late Texas Governor Ann Richards. Taylor also wrote the play.
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