5 Things You Don't Know About Two and a Half Men's Angus T. Jones
Angus T. Jones puts the "half" in Two and a Half Men and, by our count, gets less than half the attention that his fellow teen stars — let alone his ex-costar Charlie Sheen — get. And yet he is one of the most successful, not to mention loaded, young actors in the biz. As the revamped Men gears up for Season 9, here are five things to know about the low-key Jones, who has been playing Jon Cryer's underachieving son, Jake, since he was 9.
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1. Jones, who turns 18 on Oct. 8, is the highest-paid child TV actor after signing a $300,000-per-episode contract last year, guaranteeing him $7.8 million over two seasons. Oh yeah, there's also that hefty $500,000 signing bonus. Under his previous contract, he earned $250,000 an episode. The next highest-paid minor on the list: iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove, who reels in $180,000 per episode.
2. An Austin, Texas, native, Jones and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 4, but he never wanted to be an actor. Instead, his mom took him to auditions hoping he could make some money for his college savings. Jones started doing commercials and had a small part in the 1999 film Simpatico. He landed his first major film role, See Spot Run opposite David Arquette, when he was 6.
3. Jones was the only child actor Chuck Lorre and Men producers saw for the part of Jake. Lorre asked Jones to audition after seeing his turn as Dennis Quaid's son in The Rookie and immediately offered him offered the job afterward. Jones learned he was cast as he was leaving the audition.
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4. Men is notorious for its racy jokes and sexual innuendoes, but Jones has never asked his castmates or producers to explain the adult humor to him — even if they wanted to. "At one point I asked him if he wanted to know and he said no," Cryer told The Los Angeles Times in 2009. "He doesn't bring it up with me. He's not like a lot of boys."
5. Had Men ended after the Sheen debacle earlier this year, Jones would've been perfectly fine with it as he would've returned to school for a regular year. Education has always been a main focus of the actor and he plans to go to college. After that? Who knows? Jones has said he's not sure if he wants to continue acting.
Two and a Half Men returns Monday, Sept. 19 at 9/8c on CBS.
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