Anger Management (TV series)

• Charlie Sheen as Dr. Charles "Charlie" Goodson, a former professional baseball player turned anger-management therapist.[8]
• Selma Blair as Dr. Kate Wales, Charlie's ex–therapist colleague and casual sex partner. (episodes 1–52, 57 and 63)
• Shawnee Smith as Jennifer Goodson, Charlie's ex-wife.[note 1]
• Daniela Bobadilla as Sam Goodson, Charlie and Jennifer's teenage daughter. (episodes 1–52, 54, 57 and 63)
• Noureen DeWulf as Lacey Patel, Charlie's spoiled, shallow, destructive anger-management patient.
• Michael Arden as Patrick, Charlie's homosexual passive-aggressive anger-management patient.
• Derek Richardson as Nolan Johnson, Charlie's normally unassertive anger-management patient.
• Barry Corbin as Ed, Charlie's elderly redneck anger-management patient.[9] (episodes 3–100; recurring previously)
• Brian Austin Green as Sean Healy, Charlie's nemesis, who has also dated Jennifer. After Jennifer leaves him over his infidelity, Sean and Charlie become friends and tomcat around together. (episodes 45–100; recurring previously)
• Laura Bell Bundy as Dr. Jordan Denby, a new psychologist and business partner for Charlie. Often Charlie's comic foil, Jordan links up sexually with Sean Healy. Also plays Jordan identical twin sister, Jessie. (episodes 47–100)[10]

• Brett Butler as Brett, the female bartender at the Merry Peasant tavern that Charlie frequents.
• Michael Boatman as Michael, Charlie's neighbor and friend, who is in the real estate business. He is always freeloading off Charlie while listening to him talk about his romantic pursuits. He is especially unlucky at love.[11] (episodes 1–55, guest episode 95)
• James Black as Cleo/Derek, a "gay" member of Charlie's prison anger-therapy group. In "Charlie's Patient Gets Out of Jail", Cleo is released on parole and reveals to Charlie that his real name is Derek and that he had a wife before going to prison, claiming he's only "prison gay".
• Darius McCrary as Donovan, a "prison gay" member of Charlie's prison anger-therapy group; Cleo/Derek's romantic partner. He acts effete in prison, but relatively masculine on the outside. (episodes 1–42)
• Stephen Taylor as Wayne, a member of Charlie's prison anger-therapy group. Despite a seemingly pleasant, philosophical demeanor, he's revealed to have been a dangerous serial killer.
• Aldo Gonzalez as Ernesto Sylvia, a member of Charlie's prison anger-therapy group.
• Martin Sheen as Martin Goodson, Charlie's hypercritical father. (episodes 10–100)
• Steve Valentine as Dr. Moore, a rival psychiatrist whom Charlie considers his archenemy. (episodes 13–44)
• Anna Hutchison as Sasha, a hooker who is occasionally a real girlfriend for Charlie. She and Charlie are briefly married after a wild night in Las Vegas. (episodes 49–92)
• Ajay Mehta as Sanjay Patel, Lacey's father.
• Meera Simhan as Mira Patel, Lacey's mother.
• Schuyler Helford as Sateen, Lacey's sister, who is frequently competing with her.
• Michael Gross as Dr. Randy Warren, a "psychic psychologist" whom Charlie exposes as a fraud. He briefly appears in Charlie's prison therapy group later on. (episodes 77–80)
• Elaine Hendrix as Warden Hartley, the new warden at the prison where Charlie and Jordan work. (episodes 79–83)

Casting announcements began in January 2012, with Shawnee Smith and Selma Blair first cast as the two female leads. Smith was cast as Charlie's ex-wife and Blair was cast as Charlie's therapist and possible love interest.[16][17]

Several actresses tested for the two female lead roles, including Julie Benz, Jenica Bergere, Elaine Hendrix (who would get a role on the show), Kate Reinders and Nichole Hiltz.[18]

Next to be cast was Noureen DeWulf, in the role of Lacey, a spoiled rich girl who is sentenced to join the therapy group after shooting her boyfriend in the testicles when he cheated on her.[19] Michael Arden and Daniela Bobadilla were cast as, respectively, Patrick (an openly gay member of Charlie's therapy group) and Sam (Charlie's teenaged daughter who has obsessive-compulsive disorder).[20] Barry Corbin was cast as Ed, a cranky, bigoted Vietnam veteran and the member of the therapy group who is angry at everyone. Originally billed as a recurring character, the producers decided after just two episodes to make Ed a series regular. Derek Richardson was the last actor cast in the series, in the role of Nolan, a frequently stoned member of the therapy group whose anger issue is that he has no anger.[21]

Brian Austin Green, who initially made a guest appearance, was promoted to a starring role following the dismissal of Selma Blair. Denise Richards, Lindsay Lohan, Cee Lo Green, and Kerri Kenney-Silver[22] made guest appearances. Guitarist Slash made a cameo appearance. Sheen's father, Martin Sheen, who made a guest appearance in season one as Charlie's on-screen father, had an expanded role in the second season. FX president John Landgraf said, "I thought it would be a better series if it was also a multi-generational series".[13]

On June 17, 2013, TMZ reported that Sheen had told producers that he would refuse to work should Blair turn up to work that day as a result of her being the most vocal among the cast and crew[23] regarding complaints about his being a "menace" to work with – specifically questioning his punctuality and work ethic.[24] The following day, TMZ reported that Sheen had told the producers that, if they refused to fire Blair, then he would quit.[25] Later that day, Lionsgate issued a statement confirming that Blair would not be returning to the show[26] and that a new female lead role would be created to fill the void.[23]

The new female lead role was described as a "by-the-book psychiatrist" who joins Charlie to co-author the sex study research he and Kate had been working on before she left and moved to India.[27] On August 5, 2013, FX announced that Laura Bell Bundy would be replacing Blair as Charlie's new colleague, Dr. Jordan Denby, with production on the first episode featuring Bundy's character beginning that same day.[28] It was announced that Brian Austin Green would have an expanded role following Blair's firing.

On September 13, 2013, TMZ reported that Blair was threatening both Sheen and Lionsgate Entertainment for the $1.2 million she would have earned had she not been dismissed from the show but also noted that both sides were talking and attempting to reach a settlement. It was also reported that a decision had already been made prior to her dismissal to write her off the show as "America didn't want to see Charlie with just one girlfriend" – however, the plan was to phase the character out over eight episodes and that, once Sheen heard of Blair's comments, "that process was accelerated" and the character abruptly moved to India.[29]

In June 2013, a press release for an episode titled "Charlie and Kate Have Sex for Science" stated that the episode was set to air on June 27, 2013, as the twenty-sixth episode of the season.[30] Following the aftermath of Blair's dismissal, the planned broadcast was canceled and replaced with "Charlie and the Hot Nerd" – the first episode produced without Blair.[31] The status of "Charlie and Kate Have Sex for Science" is unknown as all episodes with production codes up to, and including, 1040 (Blair's final episode) have aired. An episode with a similar title, but with different storylines, named "Charlie Does It for Science" aired on December 5, 2013.[32]