Anna Faris has responded to Chuck Lorre’s admission that he was initially reluctant to cast her in the CBS sitcom Mom, revealing that his comments left her hurt. Hollywood casting decisions can shape the course of a performer’s career, but the stories behind those choices do not always emerge while a show is on the air. Sometimes, they resurface years later, offering a different perspective on productions audiences thought they knew. Lorre, the prolific creator behind several hit sitcoms, has recently revisited some of his most consequential television decisions in his new memoir, Sitcom.

His recollections have sparked conversations about the people who helped bring his shows to life, including Faris, who spent seven seasons playing Christy Plunkett on Mom. The actress has now addressed his candid assessment of her casting, while making it clear that her feelings about the experience are more complicated than a single painful remark.

In his memoir Sitcom, Chuck Lorre revealed that he initially questioned whether Anna Faris was right for the role of Christy, a single mother rebuilding her life while battling alcoholism and drug addiction. Although he eventually agreed to cast her, he later suggested that her departure before the show’s final season vindicated his original doubts. 

Faris responded on her Instagram on October 15, writing how she felt hurt with the reveal.

"Yikes. Yes, I read a few things. I really didn’t see that coming. Of course it hurts," she wrote.

However, she also expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying Lorre had given her a job she loved and that she never took her seven years on the show for granted.

"I’m proud of what we made together, and nothing changes how grateful I am for those people and those years," she wrote. Mom, which paired Faris with Allison Janney, ran for eight seasons from 2013 to 2021. Faris left ahead of its final season, while Janney continued as Bonnie Plunkett.

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Faris’ response highlights the complicated feelings that can accompany a retrospective account of a professional relationship. And she is not the only actress whose casting became a talking point in Lorre’s memoir.

Chuck Lorre also revisited the resistance he faced from CBS while casting Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly. According to his memoir, the network initially opposed his choice, with one executive reportedly suggesting that a slimmer actress wear a fat suit instead. Lorre stood by McCarthy, whom he considered a comic talent perfectly suited to the role. 

“Once again, my brilliant casting director, Nikki Valko, brought in a comic genius. Melissa McCarthy. And once again, CBS hated her," he wrote.

McCarthy went on to win an Emmy for Mike & Molly in 2011, the same year Bridesmaids helped propel her to wider recognition and earned her an Oscar nomination.

The stories offer two different glimpses into Lorre’s casting history: one involving doubts he later believed were justified, and another in which he resisted network pressure to back an actress he believed in. Together, they have reopened conversations about how Hollywood judges performers before audiences ever get to see them.

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Do you think Anna Faris was the best Christy Plunkett in Mom? Let us know in the comments.