Man about the House

HUGH Laurie is at odds with a line in the script. Oblivious to the cast, crew and occasional visitor, Laurie's lithe frame paces through the rooms of the fictitious Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, home to his cantankerous, albeit brilliant, small screen alter ego, Dr Gregory House.

Hand on chin, deep in thought, Laurie eventually expresses his concerns to writer Eli Attie.

Their discussion is brief, the line cut, then Laurie returns to filming.

This is the intensity with which Laurie works; an intensity that has helped House achieve global success - but also leaves him tired.

"I can't switch off,'' the 48-year-old later tells The Sunday Telegraph. "I'm always thinking about the show. I'm too neurotic and anal and too convinced we're going to fail to relax.

"Every show we do is a disaster, I'm convinced of it. I go home and my head is full of all the mistakes I've made.''

Given the accolades and acclaim attached to the series and Laurie's deft portrayal, such words seem strange.

While he continues to periodically visit a therapist in an ongoing battle with "mild depression'', Laurie doesn't view his professional pessimism as a by-product of the illness.

"No, I don't think it is part of that,'' he says. "I'm aware of the fact it's a bit weird. It's partly a superstition.

"I don't believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted he'd take it away.

"So he'll be like: 'You think this is going pretty well?' Then he'll go and send down some big disaster.''

On paper, Laurie's words read as those of an extreme pessimist but each sentence is punctuated by a wry smile.

Admittedly "drained'' - his role demands 14-hour days, five days a week - Laurie is devoid of the TV industry's false sincerity and smiles.

On the subject of his family, he describes the distance dividing them as an ongoing struggle.

While he maintains a small Los Angeles apartment, his wife, Jo Green, and three children keep the family home in London.

"It wasn't a massive move when I first considered (doing House). What usually happens is you do a pilot and of the very few picked up, only about a quarter go to a second year.

"So I thought I'll have three fun weeks. I never dreamt I'd be here three-and-a-half-years later.

"But I do go back and forth as much as possible, as do my wife and kids.''

As if sensing that his words are morose, Laurie quickly restates his enjoyment in the title role.

"House is likeable. Not because he's morally good, but there's something about American television that it always has this really aspirational element, that we can better ourselves or aspire to be good morally. I think often that doesn't make for good drama.''