Hugh Laurie, the renowned actor who played the iconic Dr. Gregory House, has a surprising confession: he feels like a fraud. Despite his massive success and $700,000 per episode salary, Laurie regrets not becoming a real doctor like his father, Dr. William (Ran) Laurie.
Laurie’s father, a physician and Olympic gold medalist, had high hopes for his son to follow in his footsteps. However, Hugh discovered his passion for acting through a drama club at Cambridge University, where he met his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry, and actor Emma Thompson.
Laurie’s acting career took off, with roles in TV shows like Blackadder and Friends, and films like Sense and Sensibility and 101 Dalmatians. But when he landed the lead role in House, he became Hollywood’s most popular doctor, attracting a global following.
Despite his success, Laurie struggled with the pressures of fame and felt like he was living a lie. In a 2013 interview, he revealed his dark days and the temptation to fake an accident to escape the spotlight.
Laurie’s regret about not becoming a real doctor lingers. He feels like he took shortcuts and failed his father, who died in 1998. “My father had high hopes for me following him into medicine…
I would have liked to have become a doctor myself, and I still have doctor fantasies… We live in a world of shortcuts, don’t we? And I took them. Dad would have hated that.”
This confession reveals a more vulnerable side of Hugh Laurie, who continues to act in TV shows and films, including Veep, Tomorrowland, and Holmes & Watson. Despite his fame, he grapples with the what-ifs of his life choices, making him a more relatable and human figure.