Holland Taylor Says 'Two and a Half Men' Never Paid Her Well

Holland Taylor has revealed that she allowed her contract for the hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men" to expire because the show "never paid me very well." The 83-year-old actress, who portrayed Evelyn Harper, the mother of Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer's characters, stated that her compensation had not increased since years prior, even with four Emmy nominations for her role.

"They never gave me raise," Taylor said during an appearance on the "Alchemy with Anthony Mason" podcast. "They usually do, just as a courtesy. I loved a lot about that show, but they were not full of courtesies."

Taylor explained that producers were surprised when she declined to renew her contract as a core cast member after six seasons. She chose instead to return in a guest capacity for the remainder of the series, which ran from 2003 to 2015. "I said, ‘I don’t want to be under contract anymore,’ and they said, ‘We can’t pay you any more money,’" Taylor recounted. She added that she told producers, "I will visit the show occasionally if you want," acknowledging her character's significant role.

According to Taylor, CBS "didn’t want to" increase her salary, as "they were just trying to protect themselves against giving me a raise of any significance." She claimed that co-star Jon Cryer "quadrupled his salary" when his contract was up, but she did not receive a similar increase.

"Two and a Half Men" saw significant cast changes during its run. Charlie Sheen was famously replaced by Ashton Kutcher before the ninth season due to his behavior. Chuck Lorre, a co-creator of the series, recently wrote in his memoir, "Sitcom," that actor Hugh Grant had nearly been cast as Sheen's replacement. Grant reportedly turned down an offer of $750,000 per episode and a four-day workweek for the role.