The real reason Ashton Kutcher joined Two and a Half Men

Ashton Kutcher with co-star Angus T. Jones on Two and a half Men. Photo / Getty Images

When Ashton Kutcher joined Two and a Half Men in 2011, many in Hollywood were shocked.

Sure, the likeable actor got his start in sitcoms - starring in eight seasons of That 70s Show from 1998 - but since then he'd turned into a bankable big screen star
With roles in box office hits like No Strings Attached and Valentine's Day, surely Kutcher had outgrown sitcoms?

In a new interview with Howard Stern, Kutcher admitted that his decision to step in as Two and a Half Men's new leading man following Charlie Sheen's dramatic exit from the show had taken even him by surprise.

"Here's the thing: I was shocked I took the role in Two and a Half Men. I had no interest - I was doing movies," he said.

"I was sitting with my old agent, who was at (talent agency) William Morris Endeavour.

"They had a piece of the back end of the show, and there was a GIANT motivation to keep the show going, because there was a huge payday that was going to come from syndication."

In other words: Make just a couple more seasons, and Two and a Half Men could then be packaged up and sold to TV networks worldwide for repeats, forever more. That would mean big bucks for everyone involved.

"If they got two more years of the show, they got to pull that lever," Kutcher revealed.

When Sheen left Two and a Half Men in 2010, he was the highest paid actor on television, pocketing $1.8 million per episode. After a public war of words with the show's creator Chuck Lorre, his contract was terminated - and the hunt was on for a replacement actor to keep the show alive until syndication deals kicked in.

Charlie Sheen in Two and a half men. Photo / Supplied

"I went to dinner with my agent and I said 'I can't believe this guy. How much money is he making?' I flippantly said 'If they offered me that kind of money for that job, I'd take it!'"

That's exactly what they did. Kutcher was on a fishing trip with his father when a call came through: An offer he couldn't refuse.

"I'm faced with this decision I didn't really see coming ... It was a very, very, very nice payday," said Kutcher, who reportedly made US $755,000 per episode to play Walden Schmidt, a billionaire internet entrepreneur who bought Sheen's character's house on the show.

He said he knew it was a risky move, introducing a new main character to the most popular sitcom on television, nine seasons in.

"There was all the [talk] of 'What's Charlie going to say? How's this going to play out publicly?' There was a lot of people that were huge fans of the show that did not like me on the show. I get it, because it's not the same show," he said.

Sheen lashed out publicly at his replacement at the time - but this year admitted he'd been "stupidly mean" to Kutcher, and should have had more sympathy for the "uphill struggle" he faced in joining the show.

Kutcher said there were no hard feelings between the pair.

"I don't understand his choices, I don't know that he'll ultimately understand his choices, but he made the choice that he made. I think it was things he was putting in his body that were affecting his decision-making."