He arrives at the Parisien 15 minutes late . But we forgive everything to Hugh Laurie ! Can we do otherwise when the star of House starts to apologize right away to the 6 readers who are there to meet him? The British actor added up to 9,3 millions viewers for Season 4 broadcasted on TF1 . And he's the second best-seller in France with his novel " Tout est sous contrôle " (The Gun Seller) launched in January . Visiting Paris to promote his book, the man is simple, kind and attentive. He's very far from the crippled, arrogant and cynical diagnostician that he's been playing since 2004 . Coming out of the limo, the actor shows the attitude of a relaxed 50 years old (he turns 50 in June). Wearing dark brown pants, suede shoes, a black sweater and a cap on his head, the actor shakes hands with everyone, makes jokes and shows his surprise of his book's success in France. During this 2 hour inteview, he even says a few words in French, letting us know that he speaks French better than what he's showing: he would sometimes answer the questions before the translator, a clever way to put at ease his audience which is already conquered by his wit and his precise answers. On the screen , Dr House scares his fellow doctors in order to save patients . In private, Mr Laurie seduces without any prescription.
How would you explain the success of Dr House?
HL: This show is so well written. For the last 5 years, I've never read something as good as an average episode of House. The humor, playing with concepts, the philosophy or the complexity of this show are simply fascinating. This character appeals to people because we all want to act freely as he does. It's everybody's dream .
In your opinion, is he an angel or a demon?
Ah ! ( thinking ). He's not an angel but he works with them . He's not evil either . Even with all the flaws he has, I have a lot of respect and affection for him .
To the patients, does he give hope or despair?
For House, hope is secondary . The most important things are surviving and the final result. Even though for a patient, expecting to be healed helps the recovery.
He lacks of compassion and humanity, is it that the way of being a good doctor?
He's not the ideal doctor . But I don't agree about the lack of compassion and humanity (or kindness) . It's just that he doesn't feel the need to show them, that's the difference. He doesn't wait to be approved , because he has a lot of trust in his intellect .
Would you have liked to become a doctor?
I would have adored that. My father was a doctor and he was bringing me to the London hospital in 1977. I came close to change for Medecine school . When you think about it, after all this I'm playing Dr House on TV, I would have had the right amount of years to become one . But at the time I was too lazy .
What are your feelings about playing a character who's addicted to pills ? The pain he feels is real, so he needs these pills. To practice medecine, could he only stop taking them and continue to suffer?
How did you get familiar with the medical world?
Before starting to shoot I wanted to spend time in an American hospital, because they proceed differently than the ones in France or England, but it was not possible. On the set, we have doctors and we can ask them for advises. When I say that, what does it mean ? I have to understand at least for the moment I play the scene. In 10-20 minutes, I've learned everything about all the vascular system but 20 minutes later, it's all forgotten.
What would you say you brought to the character?
I really don't know. The inspiration of the creator David Shore was Sherlock Holmes who played the violin and I play music myself (piano, guitar, sax ) This allows us to show the logical, mathematical side of House but also the ability to improvise and to surprise
You've also given more than one accessory to your character, the trainers you collect…
In the hospital, everybody is used to wear trainers because everybody is standing all the time. But I think it's really poignant for this character who cannot run, who cannot play at any game and still he wears this kind of shoes. It's a way of showing that he wants to be free
You're British but you play an American character. What have you had to change from your language and behaviour?
House has always been considered an American person. I've tried to play it with my British accent: it lasted 10 seconds, I was told it didn't work. There are already too many obstacles that separate House from his audience, he's a loner, sarcastic, bitter... It's an alien. We don't have the need to put elements from a different culture. For me, speaking in American accent is the most difficult thing. Same happens with the limp
What can you tell us about season 5?
I've just finished shooting. Season 5 will have an incredible ending. All the characters ask themselves about the consequences of Amber's death and the responsabilities of every one of them
Will we see House and Cuddy getting closer? Can we count on seeing that happening?
Yeah, you can count one that.... but I cannot give you too much details about it. It's something that it developed throughout many episodes. There's a big radical change
Were you disappointed when you learnt that Kal Penn left House to join Obama's team?
I cannot be disappointed if he wanted to work for his government. I admire his courage for having taken this brave decision. Politics doesn't appeal me much. I don't like much the public side of being an actor. For a politician, that's even worst. Same with the sportsmen, I wouldn't like to be David Beckham, for instance
How long would you like to keep playing House? Would you accept to work in a movie adaptation of the show?
We've already done a hundred episodes and we'll continue working as long as the the audience keeps watching us. A movie adaptation? It would have to be something different from the show. When moving from TV to cinema, « Star Trek » has been able to improve a lot in terms of visuality but for House, I don't know how it could improve but I'm open for this idea.
Don't you think that the hero of your novel "The Gun Seller" has some resemblance to Dr. House even you've written your book eight years before starting the series?
For me, the two characters are very different. Thomas Lang is an optimistic, a little tired, cynical but he's happy. Dr House is miserable, tortured, bitter. Even though, I think both have the same kind of sense of humour and have the quality of listening to people
What attacts you of these ironic and cynical characters? Are you like them?
I think I must be like them... These two men are in a halfway point of their lives. When you reach 50, some cynism is inevitable. I don't think I'm cynical, at least not as much as House is. But I share with them their sense of humour. Thomas Lang is the closest expression of myself
You've written this book in 1996, why did the book release in France in January 2009?
(In French) I don't know! It has to do with the success of House, there's no doubt about it. I've become more popular, the book too. The edition moved slower around the world in comparison with the projection of the show. It's incredible I've had to wait all this time but it's a wonderful X-mas present
What pushed you to write?
I've started to write a personal diary, but, it was too quick, and I was bored with the routine of my own life. It reached a point that I didn't want to read about myself! Then I started to invent explosions, car chase, beautiful women. It started like a game. I write without a planning, some pages every day that I show to my wife afterwards. It's a lonely job. I failed to get crazy but it's really excited to see the real world disappear and give some place to imagination
You're working on your second novel, will it be of the same genre?
This kind of books, if you write one, if you write six. I wanna write six. The ending of this second book is giving me some trouble, so I'll probably move to the third one! But yeah, I will continue with the genre I love the most because I've always loved detective stories à la Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler and… (looks for a French author) Georges Simenon !
Your detective story will be adapted into a movie, will you participate in the adventure?
In fact, I'm the one who's writing the movie adaptation for United Artists. But they have filed a bankruptcy petition... could be because of my script! It was picked up by MGM and then it was picked up again by Sony. My little movie has become a little thing in a big company. I hope things get clearer and I could get involved as an actor, writer or director
You live in the States and your family in England, how can you manage to be so far away from home?
Planes help us. We come back and forward all the time. My kids study in England. If everything had happened 10 years ago, I could have taken them with me but they are grown ups and have their lives in England
How you manage your popularity?
Not really well. I went to Spain, where the show is really popular, and I had a bodyguard. I don't like that. Today, we have lots of cameras, a devil's invention, all notion of privacy has disappeared. That reminds me that the time of the KGB, every one could spy the other, take pics, know what kind of music you like to listen, which films you like. It's incredible! I cannot believe there won't be serious consequences because of all that
You've said you were really lazy to study Medicine but you've studied Anthropolgy and Archeology. Do you regret having changed of studies?
But how do you know all that?...I went to college more because of rowing than because of the studies. My father won a gold Olympic medal. I wanted to be like him. I focused on rowing. If I had focused on my studies, maybe I'd be in New Guinea with a hat and a whip…
You're a musician, actor, writer, what's your favourite??
I always prefer the one I'm not doing at that moment! When I'm playing a character, I dream about writing and wear my own clothes. But when I'm writing, this activity is really solitary and I dream about other people and about acting. It's difficult to explain. Music would be my ideal world. I'd like to end getting involved in a jazz trio
Но судя по тому, что уже есть 10 тыс. знаков, а они ещё только разминаются... 
