Jon Cryer remembers falling asleep on stage during his Broadway debut

Jon Cryer‘s Broadway debut didn’t go as planned after he accidentally fell asleep on stage.

“I think of myself as a very professional actor, but apparently that’s not true,” says Cryer. 58, said during an appearance on Wednesday, January 10 The Kelly Clarkson Show“One of my very first jobs was on a Broadway show called Memoirs of Brighton Beach …and my character had to fall asleep at one point.”

Cryer, who played Eugene Jerome in 1983 Neil Simon production, explained how at one point in the play his character was supposed to go upstairs and sleep in his room. However, Cryer apparently took the direction a little too literally.

“You haven’t experienced fear until you realize you fell asleep during the Broadway show you’re starring in,” he joked to Clarkson.

Cryer shared that while watching his costar nap Patrick Breen came to his rescue and woke him up.

‘I remember lying there and he was ‘sleeping’ across from me. But apparently he’s a better actor for portraying it,” he said. “And all I remember is the look on his face: ‘Jon. Jon. Jon!’ And his eyes got all big and then I thought, ‘Huh, I wonder what his problem is.’ And then the adrenaline rush of all time went through my body, because I realized I had fallen asleep during the piece I was supposed to be in.”

Once Cryer woke up, he confessed that his “muscle memory” kicked in thanks to all the rehearsals. He delivered his monologue and the show continued. Clarkson joked that Cryer should have felt “fresh” after the nap.

Although Cryer suffered no consequences for falling asleep, he teased that he was fired from the production for another reason.

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‘Actually, I was Mathew Broderick‘s understudy for a long time… well, not that long, because they fired me,” he explained. “That was my first gig, I was 18 and I was terrified and Matthew is an amazing artist.”

Broderick, 61, also made his Broadway debut in the same show and originated the role that Cryer ultimately briefly portrayed. Broderick’s performance in Memoirs of Brighton Beach earned him his first Tony award and catapulted him to superstardom.

“They fired me right after he won the Tony,” Cryer admitted. “I think because they wanted someone who people had heard of on the show to take over for him, instead of me.”

Cryer wasn’t the only one who stepped in after Broderick left. Fisher Stevens, Doug McKeon, Robert Sean Leonard And Jonathan Silverman they all played Eugene at some point. Although Cryer was heartbroken about losing the job, he admitted it was a “formative experience.”

“And I did the most constructive thing: swear revenge,” he joked.

After his Broadway debut, Cryer became a movie star, eventually landing his own breakout role in the 1986 film. Beautiful in pink alongside Molly Ringwald.