August 9, 2011 (AFP) – Ashton Kutcher has moved into the star role on the hit US television series “Two and a Half Men” — and US celebrity media revealed Monday how Charlie Sheen’s character dies in the show.
Kutcher joined the cast after Sheen, who earned $2 million per episode for his role as the erratic, hedonistic bachelor, was famously fired from the show in March for slamming its producers in outbursts that Warner Brothers described as part of his “self-inflicted disintegration.”
Sheen’s character, jingle writer Charlie Harper, “slips” in the Paris subway soon after he was caught cheating on his wife right after their wedding, is hit by a train and dies in a “meat explosion,” according to entertainment website TMZ.com.
Kutcher, 33, agreed to join the cast in May and enters the show ensemble as a broken-hearted Internet billionaire.
“Two and a Half Men” has been a hit since it was launched in 2003 and has been nominated for numerous awards, including nods for Sheen at the Emmys and Golden Globes.
“Preparing to tape the first ep of 2.5. Little nervous. All will be revealed!” Kutcher announced on his Twitter account Friday just before filming for the new season began.
Kutcher rose to fame as the handsome, dim-witted Michael Kelso in the TV comedy “That 70s Show.” He also produced the practical joke show “Punk’d” and has starred in a handful of movies. He is married to actress Demi Moore, 48.
Filming of “Two and a Half Men” was cancelled for the rest of the season in February following Sheen’s public tirades against producer Chuck Lorre.
In addition to his reported substance abuse, Sheen, 45, had several run-ins with the law in the 1990s in cases related to drugs, domestic violence and prostitution.
Sheen turned his talents to the Internet, then went on tour with a live comedy show, entitled the “My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option” in which he talked about being fired from the show.
He is suing Warner Brothers’ studios for $100 million for alleged breach of contract after the show was cancelled.