March 11, 2008
Not that he’s been labeled a realistic Method actor before, but Hugh Laurie admits he attempted to get closer to the character he portrays on House — by experimenting with Vicodin, the strong painkiller to which Dr. Gregory House is addicted.
“I wouldn’t recommend it — we have to be careful,” Laurie, 48, tells Britain’s Radio Times magazine, “But then again … if you’re not in pain it gives a floaty, pleasurable feeling.”
Laurie, renown as a perfectionist, says he’s unhappy with his Golden Globe-winning performance of the grumpy medic — especially his American accent — and isn’t sure how much longer the series will continue.
“I’m hugely surprised House survives. The odds are against you in this competitive business; wolves snap at your heels. It’s hard to say if I’m pleased with the show,” he says.
“I don’t watch regularly. I avert my eyes when my children have it on. I hate seeing myself, but it’s even worse hearing my American accent … I had no idea I sound so retarded, a dull monotone, full of clunking mistakes.”
Laurie says he hasn’t brought his family, who continue to live in London, to be with him in Los Angeles because of fears that this might hex the show’s run.
“I have this vague feeling that the moment I’m comfortable with my place in the world there’ll be retribution,” he says. “That’s one reason I didn’t want my family to live here. The moment we put down roots the whole thing will be called off.”
Laurie also says the pressures of filming House mean he’s “off the market” for cameos on other shows. And its success hasn’t lead to any offers from his native land either.
“There’s a notion that I’ve sold out,” he says. “Sold out what exactly? There’s a peculiar British attitude that I took an oath I wouldn’t be successful, and reneged on it.”
