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Two and a Half Men series finale: Final episode to bring Ashton Kutcher's run as highest-paid actor on US TV to an end

Kutcher topped Forbes list of the most paid TV actors this year

Sunday 07 December 2014 15:16 GMT

Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher in the eleventh season of Two and a Half Men (Rex)

Ashton Kutcher's reign as the highest-paid actor on television will be coming to an end next year when the final episode of Two and a Half Men will be broadcast.

Kutcher is estimated to have earned $24 million (over £15million) between June 2012 and June 2013, according to Forbes.

His Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer is the second highest paid actor on TV made around $21 million.

The last ever episode of hit US comedy will be broadcast on 19 February 2015, CBS announced on Friday.

The long-running sitcom starring Kutcher, Cryer and Angus T. Jones will end after 12 seasons, bringing to a close one America’s most successful comedy shows.

The show began in 2003 and starred Charlie Sheen as jingle writer Charlie Harper and his uptight brother Alan played by Cryer, and Jones as Alan’s young son.

Sheen was dismissed from the show in 2011 following criticisms he made against the show’s creator Chuck Lorre and reportedly challenged him to a fight.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Show all 10

1/10Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

McConaughey committed to a strict diet ahead of playing Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. He lost a massive 47lbs after surviving on a spoonful of tapioca pudding, Diet Coke and chicken each day.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Tom Hanks in Castaway

Production was halted on Castaway for a year to allow Hanks time to lose 50lbs ahead of his time on a deserted island. The actor survived mainly on crabs, coconuts and coconut milk. During the first two weeks of his diet he could fit an entire meal in the palm of his hand.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan

Kunis, pictured here, and Portman both lost around 20lbs each for their roles as ballerines in 2010's Black Swan. Portman explained that most of her weight loss had come from the daily intense ballet training the cast were put through.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Christian Bale in Batman

To play Christopher Nolan's darker version of the superhero, Bale gained 100lbs on a high protein diet accompanied by hardcore physical training. He was then asked to drop 20lbs of it as the director said he was too bulky. Previously, Bale had lost 60lbs eating mainly coffee and apples for his role as an emaciated insomniac in psychological thriller The Machinist.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Ashton Kutcher in Jobs

Kutcher embarked on the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs' fruitarian diet ahead of playing him in a biopic about his life and career. The actor lost nearly 20lbs but was briefly hospitalised as a result.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull

In the original Raging Bull, based on the life of aging boxer Jake LaMotta, De Niro put on 60lbs. To play the actor in his prime earlier in the film, however, De Niro endured extensive physical training, including entering three real boxing matches - he won two.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

The actress lost 10lb in just three weeks before filming for the role of destitute Fantine in the movie adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. She then shed a further 15lb while shooting. Hathaway lived on a diet of 'oatmeal paste'.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry

Swank lived as man for a month and experienced extreme weight fluctuation before filming for her role as Teena Brandon in 1999's Boys Don't Cry. Her character becomes the male Brandon Teena during the film. Swank reduced her body fat to just 7 per cent and even bound her breasts with bandages in an effort to make her performance realistic.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones' Diary

The US actress gained 20lbs to play the awkward thirtysomething Bridget in the classic 2011 rom-com. She went from a size 4 to a size 14 before slimming down again afterwards.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Matt Damon in The Informant

To play Mark Whitacre in Steven Soderbergh's 2009 character study, Damon piled on 30lbs. He lived on steak, Doritos crisps, beer and whatever other fatty foods he could find - nice.

Warner Bros

Sheen’s character was killed off and replaced with Walden Schmidt, played by Ashton Kutcher. He has been in Two and a Half Men since the ninth season.

However, Sheen could be set to reprise his role in the show for the finale.

Back in October the actor said he would be open to returning for the last episode, “I would definitely do it, yeah, yeah. If they'll still have me, I will be there. Yeah, I owe it some measure of closure. I owe it to the fans, I owe it to myself.”

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He went on to say that he had a "brilliant idea" for how to reintroduce his character during an appearance on Extra TV.

Two and a Half Men has earned 47 Emmy nominations with Cryer winning two awards in 2009 and 2012.

The comedy has been on our screens for over a decade and will have broadcast 262 episodes by the time it finishes in February.

Read more: Charlie Sheen says Two and a Half Men return 'makes sense'

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