Ashton Kutcher’s Role on ‘Men’ Revealed: Walden Schmidt, Internet Billionaire

After months of speculation, Ashton Kutcher’s role on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” has been revealed. He is Walden Schmidt and is an “Internet billionaire with a broken heart,” the network’s entertainment chief Nina Tassler has revealed.

Production on the first episode of the new season of “Men,” which will also be the first since Charlie Sheen’s departure (who played Charlie Harper), started this Monday and will shoot with a live audience tomorrow, Friday, August 5.

At a recent press call, Tassler opened up a bit about the Charlie Sheen debacle, spoke about Kutcher and the role he would take on the incredibly popular sitcom and whether CBS has any concrete plans to prevent actors from displaying such erratic behavior as Sheen did (story via Deadline and Mercury News).

Fans should already know that Sheen was fired from the show after refusing to go to rehab for his drug and alcohol addiction, and after getting into a very nasty verbal spat with series creator Chuck Lorre and the bosses over at CBS and Warner Bros.

Eventually, the network decided to go on with the show, and just bring on a new actor to play the lead. That person is Kutcher, who, as noted above, will play Walden Schmidt.

“What we learned is that we have an extraordinary cast, we have extraordinary writers and actors, and there is a great value in hiring an actor like Ashton Kutcher, a talented, funny, gifted actor coming in with tremendous commitment and enthusiasm,” Tassler said of the “Sheen lesson.”

“What you learn is that the show is brilliantly written, extraordinary produced and you have the opportunity to move forward to create this exciting new character and do a great show,” she added.

She also promised that the show will remain as “smart, irreverent and risqué” as ever, there will be no downsizing in quality with Sheen’s departure.

Speaking of which, Tassler would not confirm or deny yesterday’s report about how the season premiere will feature Charlie Harper’s funeral. Keeping audiences on their toes is part of the game.

“It’s going to be a big event and the chatter and the conversation is a part of what the fun of it can be,” she said.

The new season of “Two and a Half Men” premieres in September.