Star of "House", actor Hugh Laurie has immersed himself in his role by trying the painkillers Dr. Gregory House has issues with.
02/10/2008 - Hugh Laurie - The Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards 2008 (BAFTA) - Outside Arrivals - Royal Opera House - London, England © Solarpix / PR Photos
Laurie told Britain's Radio Times magazine he experimented with Vicodin, the strong opiate-based narcotic that also contains acetominophen 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 alluded he was not 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 keeps his family in London because he fears that a move will jinx the show.
“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 bemoaned the British green-with-envy issues that many successful UK actors face when they do well in the States:
“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.”
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