Jon Cryer pulled out of Reservoir Dogs audition
Jon Cryer pulled out of auditioning for ‘Reservoir Dogs’ because he didn’t understand the script.
The 50-year-old actor has revealed he was all set to try out for the role of Mr. Pink, which ended up going to Steve Buscemi, in the 1992 crime thriller after producers begged him to read for the part, but he found the screenplay “very complicated” and “couldn’t handle it” when he read it through.
Jon – who starred as Alan Harper in TV sitcom ‘Two and a Half Men’ for 12 years – said: “I was flying to New York on a Saturday, and I got this script right before I got on the plane, and they said, ‘they want to meet you on Sunday.’
“It’s the only day that this young director can meet with people in New York. That’s the only day. You have to do it. And I was on the plane, and I tried to read the script, but if you saw the movie, it’s all over the place. And you’re like, what are these people talking about? What?
“There was a robbery, but then there’s cutting an ear off. What is going on here? It’s very complicated. And I just couldn’t handle it on flight 007 going into JFK.
“So I read as much of it as I could, but I couldn’t finish it. And I thought, ‘Oh god, I’m gonna go into this thing not really prepared.’ ”
Jon ended up having a valid reason for skipping the audition for Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut as he was called in to look after his niece at the last minute, but even if he did try out for the film he is certain Buscemi would’ve beaten him to the part.
Speaking on US radio show ‘The Howard Stern Show’, he added: “The next morning though, I get this call from my sister that her mother-in-law is ill, she’s gotta go out and visit her in Long Island. So can I take … care of her daughter?
“And I go, oh, I have a good reason that I can’t go to this audition now, I’ve gotta take care of my niece! So I call up the producer, and I’m like, ‘Aww, I’m sorry, I can’t audition for this thing.’ And he’s like, ‘Please, please, we really want you to come in!’
“Finally I just had to beg off and not audition for what ended up being a brilliant movie.
“The nice thing for me is that I know that I wouldn’t have got that part even if I showed up that day … I really don’t. I truly don’t believe I would’ve.”
