Sheen wants $3million per episode
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Charlie Sheen demanded a pay rise to return to his halted TV show "Two and a Half Men" and said he was not angry but passionate in two rambling and self-aggrandizing television interviews aired on Monday.
The troubled star, whose erratic behavior and insults has put the future of his top-rated comedy in jeopardy, ranted about everything from his problems with the top-rated comedy show to denying he has a drug problem, to his thoughts on being misunderstood.
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Sheen, responding to CBS's decision last Thursday to stop production of "Two and A Half Men" for the rest of the season, unleashed an expletive-filled attack on the show's producer.
He told ABC news in an interview with excerpts aired on "Good Morning America" that he felt let down the show was stopped.
"I was actually disappointed because I thought, I think the mistake, the mistakes, I made is that people misinterpret my passion for anger," Sheen said.
Asked if he would sue, he said: "Wouldn't you? I don't have a job. I have a whole family to support and love ... I am here to collect and they are going to lose."
He said last week's attack on the show's producer and co-creator Chuck Lorre, which some suggested was anti-Semitic, had been misinterpreted.
"I feel terrible about it," he said. "I just thought, you know, after you wailing on me for eight years, that I could like take a few shots back. I didn't know you were gonna take your little ball and go home and punish everybody in the process."
Sheen told the "Today" show that he was not angry but passionate.
"It's like, everybody thinks I should be begging for my job back, and I'm just going to forewarn them that it's everybody else that's going to be begging me for their job back."
Speculation has been rife about the future of "Two and a Half Men" -- or at least Sheen's lead role in it as a womanizing bachelor. TV industry sources have said a deal was already in place for a ninth season, but have declined to speculate whether Sheen would be in it.
Sheen, who is the highest paid actor on U.S. television, told the "Today" show that to go back to the comedy he would need a pay rise, saying the roughly $2 million per episode he makes now is too low.
"I am a man of my word, so I will finish the TV show. I'll even do Season 10, but at this point, (because of) psychological distress, oh my God, it's 3 mil an episode. Take it or leave it," he said.
"I'm tired of pretending like I'm not special," Sheen added. "You can't process me with a normal brain."
Production of "Two and a Half Men" was suspended in January when Sheen, 45, was persuaded to seek help after a wild 36-hour party at his home that ended with him being hospitalized.
He denied problems with drugs, said he was not violent with women and had never shown up on set drunk.
"I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body," he said in the ABC interview.
CBS and Warner Bros. Television decided to discontinue production of "Two and a Half Men." CBS is a unit of CBS Corp and Warner Bros Television is part of the Warner Bros unit of Time Warner Inc.
(Editing by Mark Egan and Patricia Reaney)
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