Chuck Lorre felt vindicated when Anna Faris left “Mom” after an ‘initial reluctance’ to hire her – USFTB

Key Points

• Chuck Lorre revealed in his Sitcom memoir that he had no interest in casting Anna Faris in Mom.

• Faris played the role of Christy on the hit sitcom for seven seasons, leaving before its final year.

• “She left the show for mysterious reasons,” Lorre wrote, in part.

Chuck Lorre had no interest in casting Anna Faris as Christy Plunkett in Mom.

In his new memoir, Sitcom, Lorre recalled how a script for the show’s pilot “came together relatively quickly.” When it came to casting, Faris’ name came up. “I initially said no. I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” the showrunner wrote in the book, published on Tuesday.

However, Lorre reflected on how he “bungled” his “working relationship” with Charlie Sheen, which allowed him to change his mind. (Lorre also detailed what really went down with Sheen on the Two and a Half Men set in the book.)

“Someone’s personal life is none of my business,” Lorre explained. “The mom in Mom would be, and should be, Anna Faris.”

Faris played the role of Christy, a single mother restarting her life in Napa following alcoholism and drug addiction struggles, on Mom for seven seasons from 2013 to 2020. The show continued for one additional season before coming to an end the following year.

“The past seven years on Mom have been some of the most fulfilling and rewarding of my career. I’m so thankful to Chuck, the writers, and my amazing castmates for creating a truly wonderful work experience,” Faris said, announcing her departure in 2020. “While my journey as Christy has come to an end, allowing me to pursue new opportunities, I’ll be watching next season and rooting for my TV family.”

Faris explained on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast earlier this year that she decided to step back from the show because of its longevity. “I do think the intensity, towards the end, I think I started to lose my focus,” the actress explained. “I never had a job besides waitressing for over three months before.”

Faris admitted that she’s “always hesitant” to discuss her time on the sitcom “because seven years is a huge chunk of time.” But overall, she referred to the series as “an intense, amazing project.”

In Lorre’s book, he wrote that his “initial reluctance” to hire Faris as his lead “was, in fact, correct.” The writer added: “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Faris’ team for comment.

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When appearing on the Dear Chelsea podcast in August, Faris revealed that she nearly retired from acting after Mom. The Scary Movie star said she was “disturbed by my lack of ambition,” admitting that she was suffering from mental health struggles.

“I was, in hindsight, I think pretty depressed, like, premenopausal depression without recognizing it,” she said. “I was just having a distant relationship with this city and my career and wondering if I had enough money to retire.”

During the same podcast episode, Faris detailed her decision to get sober. She discussed that there was “a correlation between drinking and depression for me.” Faris added: “I had to take a step back and not self-sabotage.”

Sitcom is out now.

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