Jon Cryer

Jon Cryer: (on why he thinks John Hughes' movies have endured) John had a real need to believe in teenage icons and create teenage iconography - that's what he was doing with Breakfast Club. I think he was really tortured in his high school, and [movies] were a way of him psychologically coming to terms with his youth and sort of reordering it in his mind as a storyteller. I think kids will always latch on to people saying, 'Your experience is important. What you're going through right now is not trivial. We care about it, and we're right there with ya.'

Jon Cryer: (asked if he kept any of Duckie's wardrobe) I kept a couple of jackets that didn't even make it into the movie. I kept those bolo string ties. And I had the Duckie shoes for the longest time, and then in the mid-'90s, I lent them to Planet Hollywood, which has decided that I wasn't lending them, I was giving them - despite signed documents to the contrary. They're probably in the last remaining Planet Hollywood in, you know, Singapore or something. Isn't that ridiculous? The Duckie shoes should be mine!

Jon Cryer: You can't do television shows caring whether or not the network picks you up. You can only do them enjoying the work, because if you're always on pins and needles about whether you'll be picked up, you'll lose your mind. I learned that the hard way.

Jon Cryer: (ssked about working on Getting Personal) It is actually really fun. By the end of the last season we realized that we wanted to do a sex farce more than we wanted to do the workplace comedy thing. So we sort of turned it into this very randy, very adult show. And it's fun. It's really fun to do a show that I actually laugh at.

Jon Cryer: (on why he got into screenwriting) It never occurred to me to write until (film partner) Richard Schenkman suggested it. I had always wanted to, but never really thought I could and he was like, "If you can write a sentence, just a lot of those, you can do it." I didn't think I could do it because I thought writing was this rarefied thing that brilliant people sit in a room and do, and I realized that it's really a process and if you trust the process and if you understand the conventions then you too can be a good writer.

Jon Cryer: It's nice that people remember the character ["Duckie" from Pretty In Pink]. It's a little silly, but it's nice to know that you've done a character that people enjoy and remember, so it doesn't bother me.

Jon Cryer: (On the difference between acting on stage and acting in movies) On the stage you develop a character that's different from yourself. In a film they're always saying, 'Walk over here. Say this line. Be you.'

Jon Cryer: (on his co-star Charlie Sheen) Our relationship happened the second we auditioned together. We didn't even need to talk about it. It was right there and was very easy and very natural. We both had the same sensibility about things. It didn't even feel like work.

Jon Cryer: (On his favourite moment from the show) My nervous breakdown last season, when I was bemoaning the fact that I'll never have time to read all the great books I wanted to read. I was having a freak out. And Charlie said "Well, if you put a few by the toilet and read one every couple of weeks you'll knock a bunch off." And I said, "There's not enough bowel movements left."

Jon Cryer: (Asked whether he has looked for himself on the internet) I haven't in a long time. But I've been known to. It's nice to know what's going on out there.

Jon Cryer: (On the porn-like titles of his movies) I did a movie called 'Dudes.' Also 'Hot Shots' and 'Morgan Stewart's Coming Home.' I did a bunch of them. I checked my IMDB page, and it's an alarming number.

Jon Cryer: (On the possibility of a Speed Racer movie) Yeah, I've heard that. But I'll believe it when I see it. You know I'll be first on the list for that role.

Jon Cryer: (on Two And A Half Men co-star, Angus T Jones) He's a very instinctive actor - and I think he's enjoying just being a part of the learning. In the first season, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be an actor when he grew up, and I think he's sort of come around to feeling like that's what he wants to do. And I attribute that to his admiration of me!

Jon Cryer: (About whats involved with season 4 of Two and a Half Men)Besides hilarity? Obviously at the end of last season, things were left with a bit of a cliffhanger with Alan getting married and moving out of the house. And you can tell with that marriage that it's bound to go well. (Laughs) I can't imagine that marriage possibly falling apart quickly, being that he's 40-plus and she's 24 and dumb as a door. So as you can probably guess, things don't go well in Alan's marriage, and basically the first few episodes of this season are all about the fallout from that. If you think Alan's going to be out of the house, you're wrong.

Jon Cryer: (About his relatioship with costar, Charlie Sheen)We see each other socially occasionally. When he was going through the first parts of his divorce we'd commiserate a lot, but we don't really hang out much. We love working together, but you kind of go home to get away from that.

Jon Cryer: (Changes he would make to his character on Two and a Half Men, Alan)I'd make him a better dresser. That's not our costume designers fault -- she could dress me fantastically. But that's not Alan. But that's fine. I think my natural model good looks carry me.

Jon Cryer: (About why Two and a Half Men has been a success) I think people don't realize it's as naughty as it is. People think, "Oh, it's just a family show, it's got a kid." Then they watch it and it's like, "Oh my God, did they just say that?" And they think because we're on CBS that we're bound to be tame. And I think for better or worse we've shown them that's not what we're doing. In the first two seasons, demographically, our show was hugely popular among older people.

Jon Cryer: (About Two and a Half Men's rise in popularity in the younger demographic) We had this weird migration all of a sudden in season three, when all the parents told their kids, "Hey, you know what's a good show?"

Jon Cryer: (About his character on Two and a Half Men, Alan) I like him because he tries his best to be a good dad. He fails almost more often than he succeeds, and sometimes his need to be the perfect dad is the last thing his son wants. I think I like that about him. And he'll take everything to a ridiculous extreme. He's so repressed. One minute he can be a funny, interesting guy and then he'll just disappear up his own butt. And it's like, "Hey, nice knowing you for that one moment."

Jon Cryer: (If he could play any character) Wow. Probably Speed Racer, because let's face it, the Mach 5 was awesome.

Jon Cryer: (If he could go back in time and give himself advice) I probably would have gone back right after 'Pretty in Pink' came out and said "OK, just a thought. Don't do anymore movies that sound like they could be titles of gay porn."

Jon Cryer: (His favourite moment on Two and a Half Men) My nervous breakdown last season, when I was bemoaning the fact that I'll never have time to read all the great books I wanted to read. I was having a freak out. And Charlie said "Well, if you put a few by the toilet and read one every couple of weeks you'll knock a bunch off." And I said, "There's not enough bowel movements left."