Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines November 14
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Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen are back in action after a public meltdown led to the actor's firing from the hit show "Two and a Half Men".
Sheen is starring in the TV writer's latest project, "Bookie." Lorre recalled the "humiliating" past and how his first table read with Sheen went after all these years.
"Well, I think it's important to say first, for eight and a half years we had a terrific time," Lorre told "Entertainment Tonight." "We were friends, we worked together and we made a show we were proud of. We laughed a lot. It was a crazy, edgy, risqué show, and we took great pride in pushing the envelope."
"And then it all went down in a very dark and difficult way," he continued. "It was really hurtful, it was humiliating, it was depressing, it was infuriating. It was all sorts of horrible things. For a long time I couldn't watch the show, I couldn't watch reruns, it was just too painful."
Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen have reconciled after the actor's public meltdown during the "Two and a Half Men" era. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Sheen publicly attacked Lorre in 2011 after the creator shut down production of "Two and a Half Men" as the "Anger Management" star entered rehab. At the time, the actor wrote a letter to TMZ calling Lorre a "little maggot" and also referred to him as a "stupid, stupid man."
The public comments and an interview in which Sheen said he was "winning" and had "tiger blood" led to Sheen's firing from the show.
Now, he's joined Lorre again to portray a fictional version of himself alongside comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who plays a Los Angeles bookie.
Chuck Lorre, creator of "Two and a Half Men," fired Charlie Sheen in 2011 after the actor made disparaging remarks about the TV writer in an open letter to TMZ. (Getty Images)
"I was hopeful that Charlie was in a good place and up for it," Lorre told the outlet. "I called his agent... they put me in touch with Charlie, and I said, 'Here's a funny idea.'"
"He couldn't have been more gracious and enthusiastic and generous about the whole thing," he added. "We talked on the phone for probably an hour that first time, and I sent him the script – 'cause I'm asking him to play himself, a fictional version of himself, and I wanted to be respectful that it was something he'd be comfortable with."
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Charlie Sheen returned to television in 2012, but the two had not reconciled until Chuck Lorre asked the actor to work on his latest project, "Bookie." (Reuters)
Sheen asked Lorre to change one part of the script, the TV writer told the outlet.
"He said, 'Can we not do the drug addict Charlie?' and I went, 'Yeah, let's think about it and figure out another way for this to go,'" he said. Sheen's character ended up running a poker game at a rehab he had previously attended after getting sober.
"It was a throwaway line where he says, 'That's a great rehab, I've been here many times,'" Lorre recalled. "I don't want to do anything hurtful. I thought he was doing us a huge favor by doing this to play himself. And if it was uncomfortable for him, I don't want him to be uncomfortable."
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Charlie Sheen played Angus T. Jones' uncle on "Two and a Half Men" before being fired from the show in 2011. (Cliff Lipson/CBS Photo Archive)
For Lorre, the first table read with the actor was "closure" all these years after the "Two and a Half Men" drama and he believes it was the same for Sheen.
"The first time I saw him [was] before the table read for the first episode, which is nerve-wracking to begin with," he shared. "It was just the most natural thing in the world. The two of us hugged... It was closure. It was healing. And it was a big weight off my heart."
"And I don't want to speak for Charlie, but I think he felt the same thing," Lorre added. "It was a great opportunity for us to bury that darkness, and have fun."
A representative for Sheen did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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