In all its runtime of 262 episodes across 12 seasons, a lot has happened on the set of Two and a Half Men. There for all of it was Conchata Ferrell, who was supposed to stick around for a couple of episodes – and ended up present in over 200.
Two and a Half Men first premiered back in 2003. From then to its end in 2015, it boasted a star-studded cast that included Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Ashton Kutcher, Melanie Lynskey, and many more. There were some cast rotations in the mix, but Ferrell was not among them. This is how a one-off role ended up raking in millions for Ferrell, who sadly passed away in October 2020.
Berta was never supposed to be the popular, recurring character she became
As Two and a Half Men came to a close, Ferrell participated in a 2014 interview with AV Club. In it, she revealed some surprising facts about her character Berta and the initial plans for character and actor alike. “The best story about Berta is my audition,” she teased. “I think they wanted her to be the ethnic character. They asked me to come with an Eastern European accent.”
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Then their vision swiveled again since her audition. But always there was one plan for Berta: “It was supposed to be a two-part arc, and my character was going to quit because Alan and the boy were moving in.”
But came yet another plot twist that co-creator Chuck Lorre had to contend with: the fans loved Berta and Ferrell. So, the character stuck around and Ferrell’s deeper vision could flourish.
Conchata Ferrell developed even more details about Berta
Thankfully, Berta stuck around for all the seasons to come. That gave the audiences time to enjoy Berta’s sharp, indiscriminate humor, and it gave Ferrell time to bond with the character and develop her story – even if some of it was never blatantly shared on camera. For Ferrell, it simply meant a lot to play someone so unabashed as Berta.
“I love playing women who have the nerve to do things that I don’t have the nerve to do, and Berta is certainly one of those,” said Ferrell. “So I worked it like they wanted, but I also worked it in my own voice, and I thought to myself, ‘You know, this really works better for me in my own voice, so what I ought to do is ask them if I can do it both ways.'”
She also “really liked the idea of this woman being a trailer-park person.”
