Why Two And A Half Men Star Angus T. Jones Disappeared From Hollywood

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Child stardom might seem like the ultimate dream, but it can unfortunately be a challenging experience for young actors. Not only are there immense adult stresses related to the job, but child stars are often exposed to very adult things long before they should be, and abuse, unfortunately, occurs on sets and around them. Even if a child star manages to avoid abusive situations, they can struggle with fame and the unusual requirements of their jobs. For example, "Captain Marvel" star Brie Larson was originally hesitant to take on the mantle of a major Marvel hero because she was unsure of her identity as a separate thing from the many roles she had played throughout her childhood. No matter how much money a kid might be raking in, there are plenty of reasons for a child star to step away from a bright and shining career. 

Angus T. Jones, the young actor who played Jake on "Two and a Half Men," became the highest-paid child star on television during the show's seventh season in 2010, with a $300,000 per episode contract that guaranteed him millions. The show, which starred Jones as the son of Jon Cryer's Alan, who lives with his hedonistic brother Charlie (Charlie Sheen), was wildly popular and seemed like it would go on forever. Things got rocky pretty shortly after Jones' raise, however, as Sheen was booted from the series following some pretty erratic behavior. His character was killed off after season 8, with his character's funeral kicking off the ninth season. By the end of that season, Jake had joined the Army and Jones went to a reduced role before leaving completely in season 10. One might assume that Jones would try to make a jump to movies or other shows, but he essentially disappeared from Hollywood entirely. So what happened?

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Jones began his career in Hollywood when he landed a role in the 1999 Nick Nolte comedic thriller "Simpatico" at the tender age of five years old. Just five years later, at the age of 10, he landed the role of a lifetime as the titular "half" in "Two and a Half Men." Unlike the overly eloquent or unusually wise kids on other sitcoms, Jake was a pretty typical kid in a lot of ways, getting crummy grades and avoiding chores if at all possible. He wasn't exceptionally educated and could be a little slow on the uptake, which meant that unfortunately, he was the butt of many of the show's jokes. As the series progressed, Charlie's influence on Jake became more pronounced, as he grew lazier, meaner, and more confrontational with any symbol of authority, especially his divorced parents. 

The other major influence Charlie has is in the way Jake treats women, as they become fairly disposable to him once he's of dating age. Jones became uncomfortable with the direction his character was going and released a YouTube video in 2012 denouncing the series entirely, saying "You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that. I know I can't." Despite his feelings, Jones finished out the season, though Jake would end up being deployed to Japan at the end of season 10 and Jones wouldn't appear on "Two and a Half Men" again until a small cameo in the series finale. 

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Since Cryer and Sheen were each one of the two in "Two and a Half Men," there was a pretty big hole in the show's formula when Sheen was rather abruptly fired. It was filled by billionaire Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who purchased Charlie's beautiful beach house after his death and allowed Jake and Alan to live there with him. (This is something that clearly only happens in a sitcom because in what world would a stranger, especially a filthy rich one, do this?) The chemistry was a little different, and while Cryer and Kutcher managed to make it work, Jones was clearly ready to be done. 

When the actor appeared in the series finale, he looked wildly different than the chubby child that America had known and loved. He had long hair and a beard and looked more physically fit than he ever had in the earlier seasons. Despite looking pretty great, Jones was honest about his distaste for the series, telling local Texas outlet KHOU that he "was a paid hypocrite" because he was conflicted about the show's message but he was still a part of it. Even though he felt that the series was a terrible thing because of his conservative Christianity, he did apologize a bit, saying of creator Chuck Lorre:

"That's his like baby and I just totally insulted his baby and to that degree I am apologetic but otherwise I don't regret saying what I said."

It's nice that he acknowledged how much he might have hurt his former boss, and over the years, Jones started to rethink his position.

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In an interview with People magazine in 2016, Jones walked back his hatred of Hollywood just a bit, explaining that when he left "Two and a Half Men," he was "very confident" and "going to college was something I was really, really excited about." The idea of living something resembling a normal life was exciting for Jones, who had been quite famous for about a decade and just wanted a little bit of anonymity. It's pretty common for child stars to end up having careers outside of entertainment, and Jones seemed to want to head in that direction, enrolling at the University of Colorado. He was also looking forward to spending more time with his family, especially his younger brother Otto. He told People:

"I got pretty doomsday with my thinking for a long time, but now I'm having fun and enjoying where I'm at. I no longer feel like every step I take is on a land mine."

Jones said that he was open to the idea of returning to acting and had a small role on the Louis C.K. web series "Horace and Pete," and in 2023, he appeared in the Lorre series "Bookie" as himself, joining a slightly less tiger-blooded Sheen, also playing himself, which aired on Max. 

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In an interview with Us magazine, Jones issued a better apology to the people he had once worked with, saying:

"I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that."

While it seems like there's no longer any bad blood between Jones, Sheen, or Lorre, co-star Cryer has some reservations about how everything went down, especially concerning Sheen. He told Entertainment Weekly that he didn't "want to get in business with him for any length of time" because he felt like despite being the highest-paid actor in television at the time, Sheen "blew it up." Despite clearly having love for the series and appearing in a mini-"Two and a Half Men" reunion with his onscreen mother, Holland Taylor, at the Emmys, it doesn't seem like Cryer would be interested in anything like a "Two and a Half Men" reboot anytime soon. 

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While Jones was a bit harsh when it came to his earlier dismissive comments about the series, he did have some valid concerns about the message that "Two and a Half Men" put out into the universe. Though he has created quite a few massive hits, creator Chuck Lorre has come under fire for the misogyny in his shows, especially "Two and a Half Men" and the geeky, long-running "The Big Bang Theory." Both shows frequently treat women as objects, only existing around the margins to serve the male characters' stories and occasionally provide a bit of eye candy. While it's significantly more pronounced in "Two and a Half Men" because Charlie is such a womanizer, it's unfortunately prevalent throughout Lorre's entire oeuvre, which can be deeply frustrating to audiences who otherwise find his work entertaining. 

Though there are some fun episodes scattered throughout "Two and a Half Men," the show is so complicated and its legacy so tarnished that it can be difficult to thoroughly enjoy. It will likely live forever in syndication, but hopefully, future audiences will understand the characters aren't supposed to be role models of any kind. Sitcoms tend to age worse than the average television series because of the need to push boundaries, but when you add in Sheen and Jones's departures and all of the problems on "Two and a Half Men," it becomes a real stinker.