Two and a Half Men: Hugh Grant reveals why he turned down a role

After Charlie Sheen exited Two and a Half Men back in 2011, CBS was on the hunt for his replacement. Reports emerged that Hugh Grant was in the running to succeed the sitcom star, but Ashton Kutcher ultimately scored the role. Now, Grant has revealed why he turned down the part.

“They talked to me about it, but the problem was they didn’t have a script or a new character, they just said, ‘Trust us, we’ll create one.’ It’s all to do with a very tight time schedule that America seems to work on,” Grant confessed on The Howard Stern Show. “I said, ‘Well, you’re obviously brilliantly talented — because I like that show and they make brilliant TV shows, really — but I’m too scared to sign up without a script.”

When asked whether he regretted the decision, Grant explained he couldn’t determine whether or not the character would have been a fit.

“I did [watch]. It was still a very good show, but what they created for Ashton Kutcher was clearly something completely different than what they would have created for me,” he said.

In lieu of the small screen stint, Grant racked up credits in film, nabbing turns in Cloud Atlas, The Rewrite, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He’s next set to star alongside Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins, which hits theaters Friday.

Watch the clip from Grant’s Howard Stern appearance above.

For more on Hugh Grant and Florence Foster Jenkins, pick up Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview, on newsstands Friday — and subscribe now for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.