The Paikin Podcast - Playing "House": Hugh Laurie & House Creator David Shore Look Back

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

Hugh Laurie surprised David Shore, the creator of “House,” at the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ontario. Steve joined them on stage to discuss the creation of House more than two decades ago, the decision to cast Laurie, how they “hit it off fairly quickly,” if they ever argued about dialing back House’s curmudgeonliness, what made House such a memorable character, how he was based on David Shore, and after 177 episodes together what stays with them the most. Follow The Paikin Podcast: YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePaikinPodcastX: x.com/ThePaikinPodINSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thepaikinpodcastBLUESKY: bsky.app/profile/thepaikinpodcast.bsky.socialEmail us at: [e-mail]

Hi, everybody. Steve Paken here. I think we have a bit of a special treat for you this week. You know, most of the time on this podcast, we're talking to newsmakers and politicians and tackling some of the tougher issues that are taking place in Canada these days. We're going to get away from that this week. A few weeks ago, I was invited to interview somebody at the Forest City Film Festival in London, Ontario. Why? Well, because I happen to know pretty well. In fact, I've known him my whole life, the guy who was the man of the hour. let me take you back. Several years ago, there was a program on television. It was the number one rated drama on North American television. It was called House, and it was starring Hugh Lorry, you know, that fantastic, brilliant British actor. Well, the show was created by a guy from London,

Ontario named David Shore, and it just so happens that I've known David Shore my whole life. Our dads were roommates at the University of Western Ontario. So, I got invited to come to the Forest City Film Festival in London and do an interview with David on stage. David thought that his friend Hugh Lurie would be participating in the interview as well, and as it turns out, he was in for a big shock. Oh yeah, Hugh participated all right, but not by Zoom, as everybody thought. Hugh showed up and surprised him, and that was pretty cool. Anyway, Hugh Lorry and David Shore, one on one, no, two on one on the Paken podcast.

Coming right up. The Paken Podcast one-on-ones, presented by Beer Canada. Here's the first thing I want to know. You did not know he was coming here, right? I did not know. When did you find out? When he walked, probably about three seconds after he walked through the door, even when he was walking to the door, it didn't process.

I'm watching some sort of video, apparently. What did you think was going to happen? When they, I didn't, I thought it was going to be about me, but it was, I thought he was going to be there, maybe, I didn't know, if he was going to be there, I figured he'd be there via Zoom. And like I literally, you know, they said, and here's your, oh my good, here's your friend Hugh Lurie, and I was going to, I looked towards the screen to watch him via Zoom, and then there's a door on the screen. And where's Hugh? Why is he near a door? That looks like the door to hear. And then the door opens, and then people react, and I look around.

Hugh, could you describe what you saw in David when you saw the look of surprise on his face? I don't think I've ever surprised David before in 15, 20 years. I don't think I've ever surprised him or seen him surprised by anybody else. He's a very cool, laconic, sort of a fellow. So to see him stutter or stagger in any way is immensely satisfying. And I look forward to doing it again. You obviously did not have to be here. I think everybody would have understood if you wanted to do this from the other London via Zoom.

So why are you here? You mean the way Freddie Highmore did it? Yes, that would have been the cheaper. option and that did that did actually occur to me when I was halfway across the Atlantic on Thursday I thought this is the stupidest thing I've ever done. This just makes

no sense at all. But no, I'm so thrilled to be here and it's so, the award is so deserved of my the things I owe David are incalculable. So I owe him everything.

It's been the most extraordinary adventure we had together but the adventure was created by him and I just got adventure wouldn't have happened without him oh now now now come on I actually have cast so many people in my head who would have done house and I just kept in fact it varied from day to day I would say Oliver Platt he would have been great yeah I did that every day you you would grant that he maybe owes you a little as well. I understand you feel you owe him, but he kind of owes you too, right? I'm not sure he thinks that.

Oh, I don't know. I mean, when he got his star on the Walk of Fame, I showed up, but that was me driving across town. And at that point I felt we were even. Can we do a little... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Can we do a little back history here? Because I think this audience would like to know a little bit more about the relationship between you two and how much of it existed before House and then what happened to it after House.

So, David, how well did you know Hugh before you cast him? I knew... I knew his work, a little bit of his work. You know, he was the dad and Stuart Little. I, probably particularly because I was from Canada, I am from Canada. I had watched... What? I had watched, you know, I'd watched a lot of his comedies, and I thought they were brilliant.

And I was a massive fan. And when I was told he was going to audition for this part, I went, oh, I hope I I get to meet him, but he's completely wrong for this part. And then he put himself on tape and was a genius. I mean, you can see that audition on YouTube, and it was the part. It was there from, we hadn't even spoken to each other. He hadn't even read the entire script at that point. And he had just read those scenes and was just perfect.

Why did you think he would not be right for the part? Because he, because, because what was... Because it's a very different character than the character you played in Blackadder, and I sold you short. What about the character he played in Spice Girls? Didn't that give you any indication? He'd be perfect for this?

I hadn't seen that at that point. Otherwise, it might have been. How much about David did you know before signing on? Forgive me, but nothing. Although I will say this, I've said it before, and it remains true. that when I read those, whatever it was, four or five pages that I got sent,

faxed, in fact, that's how long ago it was. I felt not only I got this sort of thrill of thinking, oh, I think I know who this character is, and I think I might have a chance of being able to do this and get it right. But I also thought, and this is even rarer, I thought I know the person who's written this. I feel like I know the way they think

and the way their attitude to the world and I got this sense and actually it turned out to be pretty much right I mean I did I could tell sometimes you know you can tell in a page or two whether you're going to like the whole thing but in this case it was getting to know

the character and David in the matter of four or five pages which was remarkable and as you got to know each other did you hit it off instantly did it take a little while how did that develop Oh, there were ups and downs throughout

Well, he's Canadian, so he's immensely polite. I think we hit it off pretty quickly, didn't we? It was, it doesn't always happen this way, but it was the reciprocal situation to what you were saying. I mean, we were fast friends very quickly

and we saw this character the same way we saw this show the same way we were rowing in the same direction and that's not always the case and the things we wanted to do with this show we both wanted to do and that's just rare

I do remember though shooting the pilot there was a scene we were walking down a corridor we did a lot of corridor work and I can remember Brian Singer saying oh something's not quite right about this. What if we put those two lines there and that line there? And I remember saying, no, no, don't do that, because I promise you the guy's written this has thought this through.

And every line and every word is where it needs to be. And this is not jazz. This is more like, this is a kind of chamber music. There's a sort of elegance and particularity about every syllable. and you can't start monkeying with it like that. And I couldn't even explain why David's version was better. I remember Brian would go, well, why wouldn't that? And I said, I don't know, but I just don't think we should be fiddling because he thought it through. I remember that moment vividly, too.

I think that was the very first scene that you were on camera, I think. And I remember not film, but in the episode, it was the first scene where we introduced the character, but I remember that so vividly because I remember Brian coming to me and saying, I don't think this, I think this scene could work better this way. I'm not sure it's working. We need to move this stuff up and being an insecure writer. I'm going, oh, my God, he's right, what can I do?

I've got to say, we're in the middle of our shooting day, and I've got to figure out what to do with the scene. And we were talking about it for a while, and then you came over and went, hey, what's going on? And we said, we're thinking of it. And you went, no, no, no. But you had a reason. I don't remember the reasons exactly.

I did. I did have a reason. I don't think I did. I just thought, I just sensed that it was the way it was because a very clever person had sensed that. Also, what's kind of interesting you sort of referring to this is that you were not as confident then as you became. Oh.

You grew into the, you grew into the sort of... I've lost that. I do have to say he was pretty, arrogant as a kid when I knew I'm so, you know. Is that true? No, I think it is true. The longer the show went, the more, frankly, I felt I was able to stand up to directors and network, respectfully, but I felt maybe because I knew I had you behind me.

that I knew the show better than they did, I guess. Who made the decision that House should not have the same accent as Hugh? I guess I did. It was in some ways, I mean, it was written before we cast him, and our director wanted an all-American guy, and there's a story of Hugh's tape coming in and Brian just coming to this this is our guy this is the guy this is the all-American guy we need

and because it really he really did nail it but and this is my reason for sticking with the you know the American and being an American is kind of a dismissal of American audiences I guess because I knew the character was odd I knew the character was different and I didn't want the audience to be able to go oh he's odd but he's a foreigner

and just kind of dismiss it I wanted them to feel he was one of them but just different for his reasons did you ever consider Hugh going to bat for the English accent as opposed to the American accent I didn't but we did try I think we tried one scene I can't remember if it was rehearsal, or actually in the pilot.

And I think I got about six words in, and Brian went, nah. Jesse Spencer was, his character was originally from San Diego, and we let him do the Aussie accent. Now, you joked a little while ago. I would come down to the set, and Hugh was in a bit of a mood sometimes. times. And I would think, oh, I would think, oh, what have I done to upset him? What is in the script that he is obviously rightly having a problem with? Or is it, hopefully it's the director, not me. And then I'd come up to him and it would invariably be, I can't

say. I'm having, when I hear my, this is Hugh speaking, when I hear myself saying, coronary artery. I don't even think Americans say it right. Yes, coronary artery, federal court order, impossible. The ours, and so, that's, like I would say, doesn't it can be just, you know, we can change that, we'll talk to the doctor, we'll come up with a different thing, and go, no, don't you dare.

He insists. I think the only one I did change more than once was, New York to Manhattan. I found Manhattan easier to say. Unfortunately, most of the events took place in Manhattan. But New York is a particularly difficult one. I could never get that to sound right. But as I say, I think a lot of Americans get it wrong, too. It's odd. Now, David, you made a joke a while ago about him not being the only person you considered for the role. Was that a fact? Yeah, it was hilarious. No, we read dozens of people and put offers out to a few people and none of them were any good.

I mean, it really was really good actors just, they just didn't get it. And then it was really eye-opening. It was so wonderful. When I saw that tape, that's the All-American, it was amazing. I mean, it was, oh, yeah, this is good. up till that moment I had gone I'm not sure this is any good

and then you read it but that's part of I think that is what I think you and I were responding to the same stuff the same way and you brought it to the screen so thank you and how much did

there we go how much did you feel you had to compete with others to get this part I was only aware of competing with myself. That sounds clear, but as an actor, I have been a disastrous auditioner. I think I've only ever got two roles out of a thousand auditions. This was one of those occasions.

Actually, I can't think of another one. When I was determined that whatever else happened, I would not leave the audition thinking, damn it, why didn't I do? So I actually did work. I arrived about a week before we were supposed to meet and I paced up and down in a hotel room going over and over and adjusting it and thinking that's too fast, too slow, too loud and over and over because I was just determined I felt like I was competing with the terrible auditions

I'd done myself in the previous years. I went out to try and buy a cane in Los Angeles to rehearse with strangely enough, you can't buy a cane in Los Angeles. They are so terrified of death and mortality that they won't... They hide all that stuff away. You just can't buy one. So I bought an umbrella instead,

which is quite easy to buy, even though it never rains in Los Angeles. It's really strange. They're very strange people. But I did work very hard because I thought I was competing with past failures. We've got a little ad read from Beer Canada. Canada, as we all know, is in an affordability crisis. It's ongoing and no doubt it affects you.

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that the character of House was you and I wonder Hugh somebody agreed with me pretty quickly on that I agree with the someone and I wonder if you knew that Hugh that you were playing a character that was essentially David Shore

I suppose it dawned on me pretty quickly yes because we just just discussing things with David in the the run-up to the shooting of the pilot. I just thought, oh, yeah, of course. Well, he's, of course he's going to think that,

because this is the way he looks at the world, and that is the way House looks at the world. And it's partly the way I look at the world. I'm not saying we're identical. We're not. Oh, no. Oh, no. But we share a lot of attitudes and ideas about

medicine, science, rational thought, society, politics, you know, we do share a lot. But, yes, pretty quickly I realized that he was House, yeah. And when you, go ahead, David, sir. No medical degree. No, I'm obviously not as smart as Dr. House, but yes, it was my, the things he ranted about were things I believed in very strongly. Yes, I mean, his curmudgeonly side is definitely you.

sorry thank you yeah no it was at the beginning of the show people what's he based

and he was based on Charles Holmes a bit and you know is there somebody that when he was an asshole when he was just an asshole

at the beginning of the show people just thought he was an asshole which he was much more than that but I didn't want to say it was me because he was an asshole and then it evolved into this sex symbol

and it became even more awkward for me to say it was me so I brought the asshole and he turned it into a sex symbol when it got to a sex symbol when it got to a point which I presume it did because this is an artistic endeavor, after all, where you two had a fundamental disagreement about an interpretation of a scene or a line or something.

Give us an example of what it might have been and how you resolved it. I swear to God, I cannot think of one. I cannot remember. We had different... I mean, I would occasionally chip in with an idea, what if it's this instead of that, and David would sometimes, if he was on the set,

might say, why don't you try that instead of this? But actually having a sort of collision or any sort of confrontation in eight years and 177 episodes, I can't think of a single. Yes, there were discussions that weren't even debates, really. Like, it was just, there were discussions about what are we trying to do here,

how can we best do it? But no, there was never a clash, I don't think. It was all very polite, because it turns out, it turns out I too am Canadian. So it never got to a point where you two might have had to go into a back room and hash it out and stop speaking for a week or that never happened? God, how disappointing. Much more likely for that to have happened with directors, how many directors do we have, 30, 40, something like that, or more.

I mean some came back some came back for a lot yes some were only there once yes and then mysteriously disappeared that that happened a few times but even that wasn't frequent

would you say no it was I yeah that no there were conflicts on set with various things but not not that no and it was overall frankly it was the first

thing I'd created, I'd worked in Hollywood was the first thing I'd actually created, and I didn't realize until after it was all done exactly how lucky I was. The process in so many ways was just, I had more trouble on shows I've done since then, which I would have thought. I thought I'm coming off house. They're just going to, I'm going to get to do whatever the hell I want to do now. But turns out when I hadn't done anything, they would let me do whatever the hell I wanted to do. So there was, again, you'll forgive me for a sort of prying here, but there was never a moment where you said, look, I know the character is a schmuck, but can you dial it back 10% or something like that? I mean, that was one of the things we talked about is exactly how far you can go, not, one can go with that, but, and we weighed that, and there were situations where it was like, I mean, I mean, forgive me for, for, for, for, dissecting your strategy and narrative technique, but what the great thing, the brilliant thing about David's creation is that by giving the central character, who is, as you say, an asshole, by placing him in a position of pain, constant, unremitting pain, you buy a certain sort of sympathy from the audience. When I say buy, I don't mean it's a cheap thing to, But it does have, undeniably, has that effect, that the pain caused him to behave the way he did. And it also engendered a kind of tolerance in the audience that I don't think they would have extended if I'd been some sort of strapping quarterback who could, you know, just carve a sway through the hospital. I think the fact that he was damaged and in pain was absolutely critical. to the conception of the character.

And I don't mean to say that it was a ploy, but it made perfect sense that he was the way he was because of the condition that he was in. Well, let me follow up with this because, I mean, there are obviously many reasons why the show works at many levels, but certainly one of them is that you, too, I guess, is a combination are so convincing when it comes to the actual men comes to the actual medicine of the show.

I mean, I'm sure you've been stopped a million times asking, you know, people come up to you with medical problems and they want you to diagnose it. I'm sure this has happened. I have saved many, many lives. So, I guess, David, you're a former lawyer. You're not a former doctor. And I doubt you have much medical background as well, Hugh. So how did all of that happen?

We had a lot of help, and it was important to us, especially when you're on TV in America, and then when you're on TV around the world, and you've got millions and millions of people watching you, you realize if you're, and we were doing a thing about rare diseases, but even if it was like one-tenth of one percent, it meant we had a thousand people or whatever the number is watching who suffered from that condition. and so we would say we didn't want to give false hope and we didn't want to give false fear. And so it was important to us that we'd be accurate and so we had a lot of people helping us.

I mean, I know you could say I was convincing because I was a good actor, which would be true, but it feels like there was just something so much beyond that, a level of research maybe that you did into medicine that allowed you to convey that? Strangely, my father was a doctor and my son is now a doctor. I'm the ham in the middle of the sandwich.

And also, Jesse comes from her, Jesse Spencer comes from a family of doctors. Lisa Edelstein, family of doctors. You know, medicine was overrepresented in the cast, which is an odd thing. I don't know why it turned out that way, but it did. And I think if nothing else, although we had no expertise,

it did at least give us all a sort of reverence for the process, for the way of thinking, the purely empirical approach to a problem. What is the nature of the problem? How does it present itself? What are the possible solutions? An absolutely methodical, rational, scientific approach,

which I think we might not otherwise have had if we weren't connected. I don't know if that's true. We'll never know. But, yeah, I think we had, we were of a sort of medical, all, we were medically sympathetic, even if we weren't medically expert. A couple of minutes to go here before we see your work, and let me ask a couple of more quick things. It is not unusual for hit television programs to take some time off and then

come back on the big screen as a motion picture. Has there been any discussion of that? Yeah, we're doing it without you. Probably not. I'm sorry. I like the way it ended. I like what we did. As you said at the end, House leaves the party before anybody asks them to leave the party. Better to leave early than to leave late.

But I just wouldn't want to do it badly. So then do it well. I don't... Okay, we're going to do it. Thank you. You've talked me into it. And just finally, I mean, 177 shows. I mean, you guys had a hell of a run. What stays with you?

Oh, um... Friendship. Well, that's, of course. I should have let you give an answer and then do that. Well, there are all sorts of fragments that pop into my head, you know, just walking down the street, I could suddenly remember a line or a moment that either went well or went disastrously badly. But overall, I think I did just love the world that David had created. It was sort of real but not.

It was a kind of enchanted forest where, you know, magic. things happened. People were brought back from the jaws of death most of the time. And it also, I hope, the fact that it gave people an understanding of the fact that the practice of medicine is

almost as much art as science, that as brilliant as these people may be, it's not just a question of a blood test, you press a button, you get an answer saying this is what you've got. Some of the stories we told, I think it's right to say unfolded over decades.

We had to compress, or David had to compress them, obviously. But it requires a strange sort of artistry to actually gauge what is really going wrong in someone's body, or someone's brain, even. And I think that was a noble endeavor to actually remind people of our fragility and our good fortune in surviving, because of our fragility,

all sorts of things that I thought were that still to this day make me proud. I am immensely proud to have been part of it. David, what stays with you? That character. Yeah, I mean, I'm just so proud and grateful to have been part of it. And just, it was just such a joy to be able to

be at my computer and write a line and know what, not know exactly what he was going to do with it, but no, I'm going to enjoy what he does with it. freed me up to do whatever I want, which is, again, extraordinarily rare. And even to, that is the one temptation to do more is every now and again, I'll something, I'll think of something, I'll see something, and I'll wonder what house would have done with that.

Yeah, it's just that that character is out there, it's just, it's just, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. It is. So were you too. Ladies and gentlemen, Hugh Lorry, David, Shore.