I know I just posted about the season premiere (ON TONIGHT), but I found this long interview over on Hollywood.com that you have to read! Here are a few snippits:
On the dimensions of House he’s excited to explore:
Laurie: There are places to go, there are layers to be revealed, situations to put him in that will reveal anxieties and desires that he has. In fact, those are things that we have actually done so far this season. In the first half dozen shows, we see House in some pretty unusual situations. We see him in ways that we haven’t seen him before, dealing with his own loss, his loss of Wilson, potentially the loss of a parent and just dealing with his own grief, how grief shows itself in him. There are ways in which it surprises him as well as everyone else, but I feel just so lucky to be driving this beautifully constructed motor car. I’m just thankful that they remember to put gas in the tank, if that analogy makes any sense at all. But it is very much [the writers’] car. They designed it and I drive it where they tell me.
On his recent decision to re-up for several more seasons of the show:
Laurie: I certainly feel very, very blessed to be doing what I’m doing, playing this character which is a character that I still am fascinated by and love, I would say. Actually, I think that’s part of an actor’s job, to love the character that you play, in a way. I love the show, the people I’m working with – I’d be foolish not to go as far as the show goes, to go the distance with the show. If that’s where it takes us then that’s where it takes us. Then it may not. It might all end in a week’s time, but that’s partly me. I’m always thinking that way. I mean, I think this occurs in a woman’s life. It’s an enormous thing to happen, you know, your husband is cheating on you and what do you do and who are your allies and who comes to your aid? And all these things are, I think, relevant and equally true now, so it’s just a different observation, different observations on an age-old trouble.
On the long-simmering prospect of a House-Cuddy romance:
Edelstein: I wouldn’t want to ruin anything, but they’re definitely exploring the House/Cuddy relationship further without actually losing the dynamic that exists between them. That kind of edgy dynamic does not go away. David Shore never writes in a straight line. So it’s been a lot of fun…I think that if you asked Cuddy, I think for her she deeply admires this human being as much as he’s a pain in the ass or a pain in the arse, depending on who you talk to. I think she sees the best in him on that level even though he makes her life very, very difficult at times.
On Kutner’s approach to life and death:
Penn: At the end of the last season, you find out what had happened to Kutner’s parents. When he was six he saw them get murdered, basically, so his view of life and death is maybe a little more grounded in something. He’s mourned something so severe, so something that would happen to Amber is just part of life and death. But he also asked her out after Wilson had already beaten him to it, so he probably had some sort of a private grieving process. When he said goodbye to her it certainly wasn’t this big dramatic, emotional thing for him. He just did what he had to do, kind of smiled at her, and that was it.
On Thirteen’s life-altering medical revelation:
Wilde: At the end of Season Four we learned that Thirteen indeed does have Huntington’s Disease, which she suspected because of her mother. It’s House that encouraged her to find out. That was a difficult decision for her, I think, partly because of Amber’s death, she decided to go ahead and find out. Not only does she find out that she has Huntington’s but it’s very bad, her diagnosis, in that she doesn’t have too long. Eight to ten years is the life expectancy. Many of those years will be miserable dealing with the side effects of the disease. In the beginning of Season Five we pick up with her dealing with that. She is a woman who really likes to be in control. She doesn’t like to have anyone pity her. She doesn’t like to bring her personal life into the office. She would rather have no one even call her by her real name then have anyone know anything know anything about her.
See the entire House Cast Interview.
