Two And A Half Men star Melanie Lynskey reveals how much she earned per episode
Melanie Lynskey appeared in over 60 episodes of Chuck Lorre's classic sitcom Two And A Half Men, playing Charlie Harper's neighbour and stalker Rose.
Melanie Lynskey has rubbished the "insane" idea she made "millions of dollars" from Two And A Half Men.
The 49-year-old actress has responded after an Instagram user commenting under an interview with Holland Taylor - who also appeared in the classic sitcom - claimed Melanie earned between "200,000 to 300,000" per episode during her time on the show.
She replied: "Hey! Sorry, but this insane number is floating around on the internet and I must tell you how wrong it is. I only did 63 out of 262 episodes of that show.
“I made literally one tenth of that stated number per episode (started at $20,000 with I believe a 5 [percent] raise each season, but more than half of the episodes I did were in the first two seasons).
"The highest paycheck I got on the show was I think $43,000 for one episode in the final season. This is before agents, managers, business managers’ cuts, and taxes, so you take home around 50 [percent] of what you are paid.”
Melanie played Rose, a neighbour of Charlie Sheen's character Charlie Harper, who had a one night stand with the playboy bachelor before becoming his stalker.
She continued: "I was extremely grateful for the job, and for the money.
"It allowed me to pay my small mortgage and pay bills and be able to work in indie movies and build a career, but there is this insane idea that I made millions of dollars and it’s so ridiculous.
"If Holland’s talking about it, I’ll talk about it too.”
Holland, who played Charlie and Alan's mother Evelyn Harper, has claimed she "never" got a raise despite gaining plaudits for her role.
She told the Alchemy with Anthony Mason podcast: "I got four Emmy nominations, and they never gave me a raise. They usually do."
After Melanie's clarification, the fan admitted they had been wrong about the figure, responding to say that the producers "didn’t pay the woman as well as the men", and she deserved more because of the "endless laughter you gave us all".
Melanie said the reply was "so sweet", but described the pay as "huge" for her.
She wrote: "I was 25 years old when I got that job, and a couple of years in I was able to put a down payment on a house.
"I always think in terms of how lucky I am compared to the vast majority of actors because it is so, so hard to make a living.
"I had struggled so much at that point so I was very grateful.
"It wasn’t my show and I felt fine with what I was paid- I just get annoyed when it’s misreported. Also Holland is and was a legend and a queen and deserved many raises!!!!"
