There have been a lot of iconic sitcoms throughout the years, but one that many people watched for over a decade was Two and a Half Men. In case you’re not familiar with the show, the original cast included Charlie Sheen who played Charlie and John Cryer who played Charlie’s divorced brother Allen. Angus T. Jones played the “half” man, Allen’s son Jake.

When the show started, Angus T. Joneses’ character was a cute 10-year-old boy. His character literally grew up on the show. As he got older, his role changed and the off-color humor and romantic relationships that had formerly been reserved for the two men on the show were now showing up in Jake’s storyline as well.

As a child, Angus never really knew what the show was about, but as he got older, he didn’t like the drug use, intimate scenes and other aspects of the show and his character. He’s made the comment that he was a paid hypocrite because he continued to play the character even though he didn’t agree with the show’s message or his character’s actions.

Angus also discovered religion. His newfound faith caused him to speak out against the show. In November 2012, he spoke his mind about the show during a video that was posted on a religious website called The Forerunner Chronicles. He said, “If you watch Two and a Half Men, please stop watching Two and a Half Men. I’m on Two and a Half Men and I don’t want to be on it. Please stop watching it. Please stop filling your head with filth.”

You can watch an except from this video below:

Angus later apologized for insulting the show by saying, “I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.”

It seems that there are no hard feelings. Creator Chuck Lorree, who hired Angus for the role of Jake on the spot after his audition for the part, said that he “can’t really disagree with him — the show’s kind of filthy. What he said wasn’t wrong. It might have been indiscrete, but, we aspire to funny filth, so what are you going to do?”

Since Angus was under contract, he couldn’t leave the show immediately, but his character was written out and replaced. When he walked away from the show at age 17, he was the highest paid child actor of all time, making about $300,000 per episode.

Since leaving the show, Angus stepped away from acting and went to college at the University of Colorado. He started out studying Environmental Studies and later changed his major to Jewish Studies.

He has since taken a break from college and his religion. He hasn’t stated for sure if he’ll ever return to acting, but he seems open to it someday.

Along with his career change, his look as also changed quite a bit. It’s amazing how a beard can effectively change someone’s face.

Would you have recognized Angus T. Jones if you saw him? Did you watch the show Two and a Half Men?