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Hugh Grant was nearly the new star of Two and a Half Men!

The 66-year-old actor was offered a massive payday to join the CBS sitcom following Charlie Sheen‘s departure in 2011, but he ultimately turned down the opportunity.

Series co-creator Chuck Lorre is opening up about what happened in a new interview with E! News, revealing that Hugh came close to signing a contract.

In fact, the show’s writers had already started developing a character specifically for him.

Why Did Hugh Grant Turn Down Two and a Half Men?

According to Chuck, he and fellow co-creator Lee Aronsohn met with Hugh several times as they tried to figure out how to continue the show without Charlie.

The writers even put together scenes for a new character designed around Hugh‘s personality and comedic style, “very much like a Hugh Grant type of character.”

In his new memoir, Sitcom, Chuck reveals that CBS and Warner Bros. offered Hugh $750,000 per episode and a four-day workweek.

The actor was interested in the opportunity, but had concerns about performing in front of a live studio audience.

Chuck says he offered to eliminate the audience and use recorded laughter instead.

“He confided that he was terrified of working in front of an audience. No problem. I assured him I could get rid of the audience. (That means canned laughs…clearly I have no moral compass),” Chuck wrote in the book, as shared in an excerpt published in Vanity Fair.

Despite those accommodations, Hugh ultimately decided against taking the role.

“When it came time to sign a contract and proceed, he bailed,” Chuck told E! News. “I’ve never spoken with him since that time. Just some agent or manager called and said, ‘Mr. Grant doesn’t want to do this.’”

In his memoir, Chuck also recalls being told that Hugh was about to sign the contract before unexpectedly leaving the room and becoming unreachable.

How Did Ashton Kutcher End Up Replacing Charlie Sheen?

After Hugh turned down the offer, Chuck thought the sitcom might be finished.

However, then-CBS chairman Les Moonves suggested meeting with Ashton Kutcher.

Chuck initially had concerns about Ashton‘s age and whether he would fit the role they had envisioned alongside Jon Cryer.

“I said, ‘I think he’s too young to play the second lead, or really the first lead opposite Jon Cryer.’ And [Moonves] went, ‘Meet with him.’ And this was not a man I like to pick fights with,” Chuck explained to E! News.

He agreed to the meeting, and Ashton ultimately won him over.

The actor joined Two and a Half Men in its ninth season as Walden Schmidt, a wealthy technology entrepreneur who became the show’s new lead.

The sitcom continued for four additional seasons before ending in 2015.

Chuck said working with Ashton allowed the production to move forward without the turmoil that had surrounded Charlie‘s final season.

Chuck‘s memoir, Sitcom: A Memoir by Chuck Lorre, will be released on Tuesday (October 13).

We recently reported on Chuck‘s claims about Melanie Lynskey‘s experience filming Charlie‘s final Two and a Half Men scene.

The post Hugh Grant Almost Replaced Charlie Sheen on ‘Two and a Half Men’ for $750,000 Per Episode, But Backed Out appeared first on Just Jared - Celebrity News, Entertainment News & Photos.