Amber Tamblyn from Two and a Half Men thinks women should be unapologetic about casual sex
You are being portrayed as Charlie’s female version. Do you like that ideaIJ
I love it. It’s very fun and exciting to play a moral less character, somebody who has no grounding or a “moral compass”. Often you play characters that are more restrictive and make you feel like there are boundaries within the character even if its a serial killer or a psychopath. That restricts artictic freedom and Jenny feels like somebody who has not figured out her morals and principles yet, someone who will sleep with anybody, drink anything, snort whatever you put in front of her. And she’ll be happy. That’s fun to play.
Do you think most characters on television are hemmed into gender stereotype now that you are playing the female alter ego of Charlie HarperIJ
Yeah, I would say that’s totally a stereotype. I think that the sense that how men are written is more of a stereotype too. I think that it would be great to see more women have completely unapologetic casual sex. That would be cool. I think that would be great for breaking free off gender stereotypes.
What was deciding factor that made you join such a well established show in its 11th season rather than being a part of a new showIJ
The one deciding factor was the material. When they sent it to me and I read it, I was really quite floored for a show that had been purported to be about stereotypes of women, without any very strong female characters that might have been on the show. And it was great to read something with a lesbian character who was not the brunt of jokes, instead she was the one making everybody else the brunt of her jokes. And to me, that was revolutionary for a sitcom of this nature. That was very different and very intriguing.
Did you watch the old episodes with Charlie Sheen as a part of your researchIJ Or contact him for adviceIJ
No, not really. But Charlie Sheen did reach out to me. One of our cameramen on the show slipped me a note and it was from Charlie and had his phone number. And it said, “If there’s anything I can do, if you want to chat about the role or even if you don’t want to call it’s all good”. I’ve known Charlie Sheen because we had press meets together as my show Joan Of Arcadia was on air with Two and a Half Men. So I think he was saying ‘hi’ which is a very classy thing to do.
Are there any restrictions in terms of the jokes that the writers come up for youIJ
There are zero boundaries on our show. The only boundary comes in when you hear a script being slammed on the ground because Sylvia, who is in standards and practices at CBS, is upset that we went too far with a joke. You can hear her over by the monitor. And sometimes they have to tone it down. There was an episode Jon Cryer, who plays Alan's character says that he was in a show called ‘Cats’, the Broadway play. He did a version of that at his school And then my character says something very inappropriate. It never made it on air.
Do you personally agree that comedy is difficult in comparison to drama when it comes down to actingIJ
Personally, I think that drama always comes very easily to me, its nuances, its simplicity. Things that I really had to learn with this show were balancing the anticipation between the expected reaction from the audience and the actual reaction when the audience laughs. There shouldn’t be a gap if no one’s laughing, you just go right into your next line. It’s really a very delicate balance, and I’ve learned a lot from watching Jon and Ashton. They’re really good at it with an audience. Sometimes when you rehearse all week and then the cameramen and the rest of the crew comes in for the final rehearsals on Thursday and Friday, everyone laughs at different things. So there’s no way to really gauge it. And then Friday night, it’s a very interesting reciprocation.
Were you nervous about reaction of the fans to your entry in the showIJ
I wasn’t nervous but in the beginning a lot of my friends didn’t know why I was doing the show. They weren’t sure what that meant. Was I going to be Ashton’s girlfriendIJ What was I exactly going to doIJ So I’ve really enjoyed the beginning. I felt like I had this secret because I was shooting and no one had seen it yet. I felt like asking them to wait and watch. “You’re going to be excited”, I told them. So if people don't like it, then they can go watch the movie ‘27 Dresses’ again.
Is having a live audience helpful or does it make you flounderIJ
Well, I think being nervous is great, actually very good. So in that regard, I would say very it was helpful because they keep you on your toes. The adrenaline is flowing. You are performing your hardest. When you get that big joke for the first and deliver the punch line, that time you feel,“Oh, I get it now. I get what is so exciting to people about this”. That was sort of my first real connection and love, at the end of the first scene when Jenny sort of comes in the door. I really appreciate how everybody was very supportive, including the audience. So it's exciting.