TV's Highest Paid Child Star Turns 18

TV's Highest Paid Child Star Turns 18

Two and a Half Men will technically become three men on Saturday, Oct. 8 when Angus T. Jones turns 18. Jones, who's been playing Jon Cryer's underachieving son, Jake, since he was 9, has been one of the most successful, not to mention loaded, young stars in the biz. Here are eight things to know about the low-key actor:

1. Jones was born in Austin, Texas. His middle name is Turner and he has a younger brother named Otto.

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2. Last year, Jones became the highest-paid child TV actor after signing a $300,000-per-episode contract, guaranteeing him $7.8 million over two seasons. Oh yeah, there's also that hefty $500,000 signing bonus. Under his previous contract, he earned $250,000 an episode. The next highest-paid minor on the list: iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove ($180,000 per episode).

3. Jones and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 4, but he never wanted to be an actor. Instead, his mom took him to auditions hoping he could make some money for his college savings. Jones started doing commercials and had a small part in the 1999 film Simpatico. He landed his first major film role, See Spot Run opposite David Arquette, when he was 6.

4. Jones was the only child actor Chuck Lorre and Men producers saw for the part of Jake. Lorre asked Jones to audition after seeing his turn as Dennis Quaid's son in The Rookie and immediately offered him offered the job afterward. Jones learned he was cast as he was leaving the audition. 

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5. Men is notorious for its racy jokes and sexual innuendoes, but when he was younger, Jones never asked his castmates or producers to explain the adult humor to him — even if they wanted to. "At one point I asked him if he wanted to know and he said no," Cryer told the Los Angeles Times in 2009. "He doesn't bring it up with me. He's not like a lot of boys."

6. In his spare time, Jones enjoys snowboarding and playing video games, including Rock Band 2 and Call of Duty: World at War.

7. Had Men ended after the Sheen debacle earlier this year, Jones, now a high school senior, would've been perfectly fine with it as he would've returned to school for a full regular year, which he's never done before. Education has always been a main focus of the actor and he plans to go to college. After that? Who knows? Jones has said he's not sure if he wants to continue acting.

8. While Cryer told TV Guide Magazine in September that he has not heard from Sheen at all and does not have his number, Jones and Sheen have been keeping in touch. "I talk to him every now and then," Jones told E! "I still want to hang out with him and stuff. We're still friends. There's no hard feelings at all."