This is a new article that appeared in Australia and I think it’s quite good except for the part where the author says that House is a surgeon which he clearly isn’t.
RICHARD Clune talks to Hugh Laurie about his role of surgeon Gregory House.
“For a man of his stature Hugh Laurie’s trailer strikes as somewhat small.
In an industry where an actor’s clout is so often calculated by the wheelbase measurements of their mobile home, Laurie’s proves average, at odds with the powerful position he has claimed within the American television industry.
Inside, the “trailer’s” physical size literally belies Laurie’s height – he stands at over 6 foot – his lithe frame forced into a slight stoop as he moves between the bedroom and living area, keen to view a recent DVD purchase.
The familiar strains of Led Zeppelin’s guitars flood the small sofa clad area, before stage lights inform the televised scenario, dominated by a mop of blonde hair easily recognisable as that of Robert Plant.
Laurie sits back, beaming a smile which so rarely informs his acerbic TV surgeon Dr Gregory House.
Despite being in the presence of a journalist, Laurie is relaxed, a feeling, he divulges, he rarely embraces.
“Music is one way I can lose myself completely and hours can go by,” he states, his steely gaze eventually moving away from the small television.
“I just got this new piece of recording software and I cut a record on a laptop. What would have cost $100,000 15 years ago you can now do for next to nothing, it’s extraordinary.”
Boxing is another of Laurie’s pursuits in attempting to ameliorate the stress levels attached to his involvement in the show.
Now in his fourth series of House, Laurie admits the workload – often 16 hour days, 6 days a week – has taken its toll.
“It’s tiring. I’m too neurotic, too anal, too obsessed and too convinced we’re going to fail all of the time to ever relax.
“Every show, every scene we do is a disaster – I’m convinced of it and I go home at the end of the day and my head is full of all the mistakes I’ve made and how I should have done it a certain way. What I should do is to use that time to think about how I’m going to tackle the next day – that would be the clever thing to do instead I beat myself up about what I fucked up the day before.
“That’s the way I’m put together… I’m looking for things to go wrong, I can’t really rejoice or just lay back and enjoy something.”
It’s an odd approach, especially given the success House, indeed Laurie, has achieved.
Viewed as one of the best Stateside offerings of the past decade, the program continues to maintain strong ratings – despite its fourth series suffering under the recent American writer’s strike.
Ever humble, Laurie laughs off the accolades – namely 2 Golden Globes and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award – he has received for his tight portrayal.
“Humble? Not at all, I’m hugely arrogant,” he says with a smile. “(Such awards) are absurd because it’s the role, the writing. I’m simply reading the words I’m given.”
Nearly four years after he swapped London for Los Angeles, the native Britain says the distance between he and his family hurts most. And the city with which he now lives has failed to become home.
“It’s like a gold rush town, everybody’s here to make it big, usually to do with the entertainment business. It gives the place this slight felling of desperation in a sense – you’re very aware of the fact that people are here to get somewhere – the people here are from somewhere else and if it doesn’t work out then they’ll be on a bus back to wherever.”
You get the sense that Laurie longs for his bus to pull-up and whisk him back to Blighty. Or perhaps he just needs a bigger trailer – one becoming a man of his merit.”
GOT IT FROM HERE and belongs to them
It Wasn't Me, My Brain Made Me Do It! 