Amber Tamblyn takes a walk on wild side

Ashton Kutcher and Amber Tamblyn in a scene from Two and a Half Men.

Actress says joining cast of Two and a Half Men was scary but ultimately rewarding

In an attempt to reinvigorate the long-running hit sitcom, Two and a Half Men has made room for a new voice.

The addition of Amber Tamblyn's character Jenny, the long-lost lesbian daughter of the late Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) to the testosterone-laden comedy was originally planned as a five-episode stint.

However, it seems Tamblyn was a welcome presence and was quickly promoted to permanent cast member.

Like father like daughter, Jenny Harper is a little on the wild side.

"She's so much fun to play," Tamblyn, 30, gushes. "I think for any actress it's very exciting to play a moral-less character, someone who has no grounding, no moral compass. Jenny is somebody who will sleep with anybody, drink anything, snort whatever you put in front of her and she'll be happy.

"I think it would be great to see more women having completely unapologetic casual sex; that would be cool. It would be a positive thing for female gender stereotypes."

She may have some similarities with her onscreen dad, and likewise, offscreen it seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She's the daughter of Russ Tamblyn, whose credits range from West Side Story to Twin Peaks.

Tamblyn's career began as a 12-year-old on the soap opera General Hospital before taking the title role in the teen drama series Joan of Arcadia in 2003, for which she earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. As well as occasional film roles, she starred as a young doctor in the final season of House.

Two and a Half Men is Tamblyn's first foray into outright comedy and she admits she's more than a little out of her comfort zone.

"Sitcoms terrify me. They are something I know nothing about. I've never done one before, and had never even seen one taped. So it was a very scary environment coming into it, especially in front of an audience. I'm used to saying the exact words on the script, so to be in a situation where someone says, 'Hey, let's have another joke about 'vagina,' is difficult, but also invigorating and exciting."

Two and a Half Men isn't exactly renowned for its female characters, but after Tamblyn read the script it became apparent to her that the show was making a change for the good. "I was floored when I read the material. For a show that had been purported to be about stereotypes of women and none of them very strong characters, it was great that she's a female gay character who was not the brunt of the jokes. In fact, she was the one eliciting the jokes and making everybody else the brunt."

In what could be viewed as a magnanimous gesture, Charlie Sheen, who hasn't been associated with the show since his very public departure in 2011, contacted Tamblyn after learning she had a core cast member.

"A cameraman slipped me a note and it was from Charlie with his phone number. It said, 'If there's anything I can do, if you want to chat about it call me, and if you don't want to call, all good.' I thought it was a very classy thing to do." She pauses. "And no, I haven't called him."

For now, Tamblyn is happy to be running on adrenalin. "I think being nervous is great, it keeps you on your toes. The first time I made a big joke and everybody laughed really hard, it was a real moment for me."

Who: Amber Tamblyn
What: Two and a Half Men, new series
When and Where: TV2, 8pm tonight