Amber Tamblyn Is Leaving Two And A Half Men
A press release from the probably inevitable future.
CBS Communications Group
October 25, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMBER TAMBLYN TO DEPART "TWO AND A HALF MEN"
Executive producer Chuck Lorre announces today that Amber Tamblyn will not continue in her recurring role on the hit CBS series TWO AND A HALF MEN.
"Amber was extraordinary in the role of Jenny, the daughter Charlie Harper never knew he had," said Lorre. "My fellow producer Jim Patterson and I knew it would be a stretch for audiences to believe that this beautiful, feminine girl would be convincing playing a lesbian, but somehow, Amber really sold it."
"It was important to me, as a lover of women, that Jenny be a character who would be sexy to men while making viewers believe she was only sexually attracted to women," said Jim Patterson. "When we first cast her in the role, we spent a lot of time talking about what things lesbians do that men find titillating. I recommended to her some of the websites that appeal to me. I don't know if she checked them out, though. She would say things like, 'I don't really think it's going to be that helpful to me to watch lesbian pornography if I'm not going to be simulating actual sex on the show.' And I'd say, 'Not lesbian pornography -- sometimes those women are really butch if they're not meant for men to watch, and their fingernails are really short too.' And then she'd ask to take a break so she could talk to her agent and her lawyer."
"I had a great time working with Amber," said series star Ashton Kutcher. "No offense to Angus T. Jones, who's very talented as well, but I definitely think that the 'half man' slot needed to be filled by someone who wasn't so sexless. It's also funny that she ended up as the 'half man' because that's what lesbians kind of are, right? Anyway, I really pushed for that scene in her last episode where Jenny finally gives in to Walden, my character, and agrees to have a threesome with him and her girlfriend. I just think it was fun for the audience and a good representation in these post-DOMA times of what lesbians' lives are really like. It's too bad Amber decided she didn't want to appear in any more episodes after that."
"As the only character on the show biologically related to Jenny, I of course couldn't play any scenes in which I hit on her or even commented on how attractive she is," said Jon Cryer, who plays the late Charlie's brother, Alan. "But I made sure to tell her on the set. I know she's married. I'm married, too. Girls like to hear that even if everyone involved knows it's not going to go anywhere. We have such a masculine set that I felt it was important to make her feel that, as a woman, she was still very welcome, and I think she did up until the day she fulfilled her contractual obligation and left without saying goodbye to any of us."
TWO AND A HALF MEN is produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., and The Tannenbaum Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. Chuck Lorre, Jim Patterson, Don Reo, and Eddie Gorodetsky are executive producers.
* * *