More Insight From Lisa Edelstein
The conversation with Lisa Edelstein was quite long, so I’ve broken it up for you a bit so the pages will load better. (I don’t want you to miss anything!) In this portion, she gives us even more hints about where the characters on House are going and what’s in store for us. (She even tells us what the cast knows about the spin-off rumors!)
Q: What do you think that House thinks of Cuddy? Do you think he loves her like she loves him?
L. Edelstein: I think he’s attracted to her. I think he likes her smarts. I’m not sure House is capable of love the way other people are. I think he’s so disconnected to himself in that way that it would be impossible for him to truly be able to connect to somebody else. I mean, I think he loves Cuddy and I think he loves Wilson, but I don’t know that it would be in the same way they love him.
Q: I’ve asked this question of David Shore before too, what do you think drives House? Because I’ve always thought he can’t truly be as disconnected and unempathetic as he plays, although Shore sort of says, yes, actually he is, but what do you think?
L. Edelstein: Well, I’d have to agree with David. I think that he has become so disconnected through his pain and his treatment of his pain and his anger at the world that he finds the connection in the puzzle more than in the people. And he’s so smart that he sees past everyone’s bull**** to such a degree that people become uninteresting to him.
Q: Do you think all of that, though, ends up not just disconnecting Cuddy and Wilson to him, but also us as viewers? I just think that’s always such an interesting dichotomy that you’re like, here’s this really non-empathetic person, but you feel connected to him?
(click on “Read More” for the rest of this fascinating interview!)
[Photo: courtesy of newscom.com]
L. Edelstein: Because he’s so smart about telling the truth about where you’re at, even when you’re not willing to admit it yourself, and there’s something very addictive about being around a person like that because you know you’re going to hear the truth and because they’ll talk to you anyway. It’s like being naked and still being spoken to. It’s being naked with all your defects. There’s something about it, even when it’s cruel, that’s comforting.
Q: Having said all that about House, when you’re playing all that with Hugh Laurie, I mean, I guess what I’m asking is what’s Hugh Laurie like as compared to House? Because it seems to me like he’s so very different than all that.
L. Edelstein: Oh, yes. He is a much softer person and very sensitive and very empathetic and hilarious, an extremely hard worker.
Q: How would you say you and Cuddy compare to each other, like yourself and your character?
L. Edelstein: I’m much more playful than she is. I behave younger and I have a different kind of energy, completely. I’m usually ricocheting off the set walls until they say “action,” and then I’m this serious person. She wears skirts that you can’t even take long strides in. But it’s great. It’s great playing that part of myself with her, but I think most people are surprised when they meet me that we’re so completely different.
Q: So when you’re off the set or whatever, what sorts of TV shows do you enjoy watching when you’re on your downtime?
L. Edelstein: I love Project Runway, and I really love Lost. The Sopranos, I was really into. I love Big Love and Mad Men. I think they’re fantastic shows. There’s some really great television out there, actually, and, with the magic of TiVo, it’s really amazing because our schedules are so weird that I never can turn the TV on at a normal time.
Q: So you said you’re starting right back up again, you’re still aiming for a fall premiere for season five?
L. Edelstein: Oh, yes. We’re starting season five. As soon as we finished season four, we started season five. We’re working straight through until August. Usually we have May and June off, so we work through to August, then we take a break for a few weeks, and then we come back and work through December. So, barring an actor’s strike, that will be our schedule.
Q: How would Cuddy’s relationship have been different if the strike didn’t happen, with House?
L. Edelstein: I think they were planning on exploring her relationship with House a little bit in season four and decided to put it off, but I don’t really know to what extent because they don’t tell me.
Q: How does House’s mental struggle affect Cuddy and the team?
L. Edelstein: I think they’re used to his mental struggle. It causes the same problems every day. They know that these are what to expect with him. Do you mean in terms of the finale, what he’s going through?
Q: Yes.
L. Edelstein: Oh. That’s really interesting because he ends up risking his own life in order to access his own mind, and none of the other people can do what he does, so they’re all willing to kind of participate in that risk.
Q: They’re all keeping their fingers crossed, I guess.
L. Edelstein: Yes, holding their breath for a minute and waiting to see if it works. I mean, I don’t, for a long time, nobody really knows to what extent he’s risking his own life, but even when it becomes apparent, it still goes on.
Q: You mentioned earlier that, if something wasn’t happening in the plotline that you wanted to happen, you would make sure that it did. How involved are you in the development of the narrative and of the plot?
L. Edelstein: Oh, I don’t think I said that. I have zero control over what happens in the plotline. I think I said that, if it wasn’t written in terms of subliminal messages, that I…
Q: Oh, okay. That you would act it.
L. Edelstein: Yes. If it was appropriate, of course. I just think there’s always room for humanity in acting, one can only hope, so when you bring in the whole life of a person that’s playing a character, then surprises happen and are allowed to happen, and so it makes it more interesting.
Q: I know that you guys have had a history of having a lot of big-name guests coming on the show, and I read that this finale has Fred Durst on it?
L. Edelstein: Yes. I didn’t work with him.
Q: You didn’t work directly with him?
L. Edelstein: He was not in a scene that I was in, so we didn’t get to actually work together, but I met him. He’s very nice.
Q: Have there been other people that have guested on the show in the past that you’ve been sort of surprised by their skill or that you’ve really enjoyed working with?
L. Edelstein: Oh, we’ve had some great guest stars. I thought Samantha Morton was really wonderful. David Morse was amazing. Joel Grey, that was exciting just because I’ve seen Cabaret, like, 80 times. We’ve had so many people come and go. We’ve had great guest stars, wonderful guest casts.
Q: Is there anyone that you would just die to work with that you’re sort of angling to-?
L. Edelstein: I only wish that Clint Eastwood was playing Hugh’s dad, but they had already cast his dad in the very first season, but it should’ve been Clint.
Q: You’ve played in movies and TV. Do you prefer one over the other?
L. Edelstein: No, I don’t. I just prefer better writing over worse writing.
Q: What else can we expect in the next season?
L. Edelstein: The next season, you know, they just don’t tell us. I’ve only seen one episode so, in terms of script, but we really don’t have any clue as to where the storylines are going. I think there’s a nice House/Wilson storyline to kick off the season that is kind of, their friendship is on the line, so that’ll be interesting.
Q: I know you talked earlier about being nervous a little bit when you sign up for a pilot for a new show. Was there a moment when you realized this is going to work?
L. Edelstein: Yes, well, there’s so many elements. It’s like, when I , I did the pilot of The West Wing, and when I saw it, it was like watching a movie and I thought, “This is going to work,” and it did. But I was also on the pilot of Relativity, which was an incredibly beautiful filmic pilot, and I thought, “This is going to work,” and it was done in one season. So there are so many elements from how the scripts continue to be written to what network you’re on and how their other shows are doing, what night they put you on, what you’re up against. There are just too many elements to really know beyond whether or not you like it as to whether or not the show’s going to last.
Q: There’s been rumors about this. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m wondering, can we expect the finale to set the stage for a House spin-off?
L. Edelstein: I’ve read that online also. No, not the finale. I don’t have any idea what they’re talking about in those rumors.
Q: But you’ve heard the same thing? It’s about a private investigator or something.
L. Edelstein: Yes, but certainly not this season. I don’t know what that is, but then again, we’re already starting season five, so maybe something’s in the works that I don’t know about. Literally, they tell us nothing. We’re not allowed to know it until the day we receive the script.
Q: How is the prospect of another potential strike sort of affecting the atmosphere as you go into this quick turnaround into the fifth season?
L. Edelstein: Well, I think the fact that we’re doing a quick turnaround to the fifth season is part of it, but you know, we’re all kind of holding our breath because nobody wants a strike, and hopefully a strike won’t be necessary, but it’s very scary, the kind of tactics that the AMPTP is pulling again. And it’s very sad, so fingers are crossed.
Q: Is it something that anyone discusses? Like, are you guys talking about it on the side, the possibility of that?
L. Edelstein: Yes and no. It’s in the air, but we haven’t all gotten to that point just yet. They haven’t sent out strike approval notices or anything like that, and it’s scary. We were very behind the writers and the writers’ strike, and these are really legitimate issues that are being brought up, and some really terrible tactics are being used to work against the artists. So I really, really hope it doesn’t have to go to that place.
Q: In House’s mind, Cuddy strips. Do you think, if the situation was reversed and we were in Cuddy’s mind, House would strip?
L. Edelstein: I don’t know. I don’t think Cuddy’s like a Chippendale’s kind of gal. I think women have a different idea of what’s sexy in terms of what they want to see their men doing than in terms of-
Q: There’d be like a fireplace and a beach and flowers?
L. Edelstein: Yes, maybe it would be some kind of like laying there quietly, caressing her belly, like tickling her belly while doing a diagnostic.
Read the entire interview from the start!
tv, Television, house tv, House, Omar Epps, jesse spencer, robert sean leonard, Lisa Edelstein, Anne Dudek, hugh laurie, Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson
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POSTED IN: House Episodes, House Interviews, House Rumors, House Spoilers, House Thoughts, Lisa Edelstein, Show Info
3 opinions for More Insight From Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein Talks About What’s in Store for ‘House’
May 12, 2008 at 12:34 pm
[…] Read the rest of this wonderful interview! […]
Exme
May 12, 2008 at 8:40 pm
”Laying there quietly, caressing her belly, like tickling her belly while doing a diagnostic”
Ohhh, God! this is my idea of something sexy to do! :)
l i s a
May 31, 2008 at 6:18 am
[…] In this portion, she gives us even more hints about where the characters on House are going anhttp://www.houseisright.com/2008/05/12/more-insight-from-lisa-edelstein/’Family Guy’ stars take center stage Seattle TimesSeth MacFarlane was driven to drink. Money trouble […]
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