Watching House

The wonderful, beautiful, very VERY pretty Laura Silverman granted me the intervew I’ve been wishing for! She took the time to give some awesome answers to the questions both the readers and I had about her acting, the show, and other things! I was just as excited for this as my friend Lynn was to get an interview with Thirteen the other day! Check it out!!

Chrissy would like to know how you got the job on House - if you auditioned or if they contacted you.

No, I definitely had to audition… though I’m flattered by the question… I’m really not enough of a ‘name’ to just get an offer for something like this, not to mention that you’d be shocked to see the number of extremely successful and well-known actors that I see at auditions all the time… I’m glad I auditioned, though, because I really do care about whether or not I am the best actress for the job, so being cast from an audition reassures me of that somewhat… This was actually my third time auditioning for House, and while I was sorely disappointed the first two times, I was glad that this was the one I booked, as it was a much richer role than the first two..

Cynthia would like to know how long it takes to film an episode and if there were any funny moments you were in that you could reveal to the readers.

Typically they schedule eight days per episode, but often go over… I think this episode was shot in nine days, of which I think I worked five. The whole thing was a lot of fun, there’s a lot of joking around, everyone is pretty funny, but there aren’t really any stories I can tell without giving anything away… I guess one thing I could say is that I was so nervous at first to work with Hugh Laurie, but luckily for me, in the first scene I had with him all I had to do was hyperventilate and pass out, over and over again, which was perfect, because that’s exactly how I felt! He was very kind, too, he was concerned about how woozy I was getting (because as it turns out, there’s really no way to ‘act’ hyperventilating without actually hyperventilating) and he had them bring me a paper bag to breathe into between takes. The ’sick’ make-up is also a little tough on the vanity at first, I kept joking with the make up artist, saying, ‘come on, is a little blush and mascara really going to ruin everything?!?’ I didn’t really mind, though, I generally embrace not having the pressure of having to be ‘pretty enough’, it can be a real distraction from what you’re trying to do… Actually, the sicker they made me look, the more I liked it, it was fun because I’m very interested in special effects make up. It’s probably what I’d be doing if I wasn’t an actress.

For the rest of the interview, click below!

Judy and Anzelique want to basically know what it’s like working with Hugh and the whole cast.

Great! Every one of them was really great to work with, can’t say a single bad thing. Not that I would, but it happens to be true. Hugh is a bit of a hero of mine, and you always fear finding out that your heroes are real douchebags or phonies, but he was great. He’s humble and generous and funny, and truly what I consider to be a ‘real actor’, which is always treat. And what I mean by that is that he really acts with you, and not at you, you feel like he lets himself be changed by what you do, and to me that’s what acting is all about. A lot of actors won’t do that, they decide what they are going to do, what they know will work and make them look good, and no matter what you give them back, they don’t stray from their plan. That kind of thing just sucks all the life out of it. To me, acting is really about the process more than the result, not because I’m such an ‘artist’, it’s just, that’s the kick of it for me, it’s what thrills me and makes me want to keep doing it. It’s all about letting who you are acting with affect and change you, and you hope they do the same. I mean, you make choices and have ideas but you never want to really know exactly what’s going to happen. That’s what makes it feel like the living art that it is, like something new and unexpected is being created in a collaborative manner. It’s all about being willing to really live with other people, and not just deliver a performance in a vacuum. And Hugh Laurie really is that kind of actor. I mean, I expected he would be, but still, it’s not easy to do, it’s risky and frightening and quite daunting under the pressure of a tight production schedule where time is money, and therefore it’s pretty understandable that people aren’t always willing to go there, (I certainly don’t always succeed at it!) but it’s what I strive for, and it’s what I hope for in the people I get to work with, especially those that I so admire. I felt so lucky to have that experience with someone like him, as well as the rest of the cast. I think they made me better than I am. I hope so, anyway…

In doing some research I can tell that you’ve mostly done comedy shows - what did it feel like to land a drama? Is the attitude on the set really different?

It is very different, not the attitude so much as the work itself, and since this was my first time on a drama, I had to adjust pretty quickly. I’ve been trying to do drama since I started acting, but it’s very hard to get your foot in the door, especially when you’re known for something else. And if I could have picked one drama to be on, it would have been House, and if I could have picked one actor to work with, it would have been Hugh Laurie, so it was an embarrassment of riches, so to speak. It would have been nice to have entered into such a thing with a little more experience under my belt, but I felt ready for it, and, like I said, the quality of the actors, as well as the writing, the director, and the whole crew, I think really helped me rise to the occasion. It was a struggle to be confident, though, especially at first, and to have a sense of how I was doing. It just felt so different, and I’m so used to using ‘getting laughs’ as a gauge… I just had to learn to trust the director, you know, stop thinking about myself, stay focused and trust his judgement. I mean, the guy knows what he’s doing, right?

You told me that House was one of your favorite shoes - what else do you enjoy watching?

I hate to say it but I like a lot of reality shows- Project Runway, Top Model, all that stuff. I think 30 Rock is the best sitcom in years, can always watch a Law and Order in a pinch, and I’ve recently gotten into ER for the first time, the cast is really good now…I like a lot of British television, and lately Hotel Babylon has been my guilty pleasure. But my number one favorite? That would be Jeeves and Wooster, hands down. I have the boxed set and I watch it a lot, it’s like medicine for me. Just melts my cares away!

Your sister is famous for pushing buttons and for saying things that others won’t say (even if they’re true LOL), do you have the same type of personality?

Everyone in my family has the same sarcastic, biting sense of humor, and we’re all a bit dirty. Even my older sister, Susan, who is a rabbi (we’re still not sure how that happened…) but Sarah and I are very different from each other. We have a similar sense of humor but definitely don’t have the same personality at all.

There has been a lot of talk on the House forums about your character being a Hasidic Jewish woman. More so than any other patient I’ve seen, your character has caused quite a stir, with people wondering if the script will be true to the religion or if it will, in some way, shape, or form, mock the religion. There is also a lot of talk about Wilson/Cuddy/Taub being Jewish and getting very involved in the treatment. After that long-winded wind up, what can you tell us about playing this “controversial” part?

Well, I really didn’t immediately relate to the character, as I’ve never been religious at all, I wasn’t raised that way or anything, so I had to find a way to do that in order play her, and to be honest I found it a bit challenging. I hadn’t really thought about the episode being controversial, so that’s interesting to me to hear. It’s good a good thing, though, I suppose. I mean, if it generates interest, that’s great. It really didn’t occur to me while I was doing it, though, I guess I was just focused on revealing the life of this person and not the more general implications of the subject matter, if that makes sense. The story is about the people, not the religion. And it definitely doesn’t mock it. As far as being accurate, I think so. Everything was done very elaborately and carefully, and we actually had an orthodox rabbi on set as a consultant. And the actor who plays my husband, Eyal Podell, was also very knowledgeable and helped me understand a lot of things more deeply. He really did a great job. As far as the involvement of those other characters, I really can’t say anything about what happens in the episode, so you’ll just have to watch and see!

And, just for fun, a little Anthony Bourdain - “if you knew you were going to die, what would you want your last meal to be?”

Peeps. Definitely, Peeps. The yellow ones shaped chicks. The shape actually makes a difference. Any Peeps aficionado worth their salt (or sugar, rather) will tell you that…

Thanks again Laura! I’m really looking forward to seeing her in “Don’t Ever Change”, airing February 5th!

Don’t forget, for another interview, to check out Lynn’s interview with Olivia Wilde over here!