Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein may be among the most envied women in the world by "House" fans who think the medical drama’s star, Hugh Laurie (who plays Dr. Gregory House on the show), is one of the sexiest actors alive. That’s because Edelstein’s "House" character, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (House’s boss), and the brilliant, grumpy House finally become lovers in an episode airing May 4. After all, how many women get to make out or have sex with the talented Laurie, even if it's just acting on screen? [UPDATE: The sex between House and Cuddy turned out to be a House hallucination while he was under the influence of Vicodin.]
Life just got steamier at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the fictional New Jersey medical facility where much of "House" takes place. In a telephone conference call, Edelstein recently chatted with reporters about Cuddy hooking up with House, what it was like to work with Carl Reiner (who guest-stars as a patient in the fifth-season finale episode, airing May 11), and why — just like Cuddy — she’s attracted to complicated men in real life.
The number-one thing people want to know about is the House and Cuddy hookup scene. What it was like to film a sex scene with a longtime colleague and they also want to know if he was a good kisser?
It was great. I wouldn’t complain.
How many takes did you have to do to get it right?
We did probably about five takes. Yes, probably about five takes. We didn’t really do it for that long, but it was more a question of making sure the cameras wanted to capture a lot of different things. But you know, I have a great friendship with Hugh and he’s super sexy, so who could complain about kissing him?
How much of Cuddy is a result of the writing and directing and how much of the character is your creation?
I think initially it’s, of course, just the writers and then eventually you sink into the character, aspects of your personality that suit the character start to shine and the writers become inspired by the Cuddy that you portray. That takes over the Cuddy that they originally have in their minds, so it’s really a marriage of the two.
You have a huge fan base and they’re all begging for you to get involved in Twitter. Do you think you will?
No. I don’t understand Twitter at all.
So was the sex with House good?
Apparently.
As evidenced by?
As evidenced by, well, you’re not going to see me get naked or anything, but it was a pretty hot scene.
Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein in "House"
What can you say about the fifth-season finale, as far as the Carl Reiner character? How does Cuddy get involved in that story line? She kind of like forces House to hang out with this guy. What’s the story there?
Yes. I think she thinks it will be an amusing thing to push this guy on "House." It was great fun working with Carl Reiner, by the way. How exciting. He’s legendary. We had a lot of fun. The story line is great and touching and I think he does a wonderful job, although I haven’t seen anything. I’ve just seen what I experienced with him in the room.
So there are lots of good rumors out there about what’s going to happen with Cuddy. I think the latest thing we’ve heard was that you might end up pregnant with twins. What can you say about that rumor?
Oh, really? I guess I can start eating spaghetti again. I haven’t the faintest idea. I have not heard anything to that effect.
What would you like to see happen though?
What would I like to see happen? I don’t know that Cuddy should be wandering around the hospital carrying twins. I’m not sure that that’s really the "House" that everyone knows as a show, but it’s pretty funny that that’s the rumor.
Can Cuddy and House be more than a passing comfort to each other? Why is a smart, accomplished woman like Cuddy so ga-ga over such a messed-up misanthrope like House?
I don’t think it’s a passing thing. I think it’s been going on for a long time whether or not they’ve acted out on it. I don’t necessarily think it will ever be a satisfying relationship in terms of both of them kind of settling in and saying this is what we’re doing, but she has a complicated relationship with men, it seems. She likes the screwed-up ones. I totally relate.
Lisa Edelstein and Hugh Laurie in "House"
What will having sex finally do to the relationship with Cuddy and House?
Well, you’ll have to find out.
Will we find out anything in the finale?
Yes.
What was your reaction when Kal Penn announced he was leaving "House" to work for join the Barack Obama administration (as associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison) and the way they wrote out his character? How did you feel about all of that?
We were all taken by surprise. They really kept it under wraps until the actual episode came out. From then on in, for the rest of the season, they were top-secret scripts. We were given one copy of the script, the daily sides that we got; you know, you have these sides that are just the scenes for the day that you’re shooting. Usually, they’re kind of floating around the stage and you grab them and you lose them and you grab another pair and you lose them, but this time they all had our names on them. We had to return them at the end of the day. It was all very top-secret, very hush-hush.
But I’m happy for Kal. I think it’s a really bold move. He has a passion for politics and certainly for the Obama administration. I think it’s an incredible thing. It’s very brave. It’s hard enough being an actor, let alone walking away from being a successful one. Although, I have a feeling that if he wanted back in, his career would be waiting for him on the other side.
What are you doing for your hiatus?
I’m mostly traveling. We work 10 months out of the year and so, having two months off — which last year wasn’t really what happened, because we were all on strike and it was very nerve-wracking — so having two months to myself, if I’m not doing a film or something like that I just want to see the world. I just came back from Asia, and now I’m going to go to New York and then to Europe and just kind of feel my freedom as much as possible.
Lisa Edelstein and Hugh Laurie in "House"
Are there still viewers out there who think that Cuddy is the mean one to that nice Dr. House?
The people that talk to me are usually the people that are really into the House/Cuddy dynamic. I think if they’re not into it they just leave me alone. So no, I don’t get that so much any more. I think part of it too is when you start a series the characters are all really broadly drawn. As the series goes on you get more specific and more nuanced in both writing and performance, because everybody is getting to know each other. So you get these kind of … what’s the word I’m looking for … you get these characters that are representative of I’m the arch enemy. I’m the good guy. I’m the pretty girl. Do you know what I mean?
It’s kind of uncomplicated when it begins, and I think whether or not I was playing it that way, that was kind of the position that people put me in in their minds; the one that says no. She always yelled at him.
I don’t think you ever twirled your mustache on the show.
No. I definitely shave it off. There you go. But this season there were, I think, two episodes in particular where Cuddy was mean to House and then he was nice to her in response. That’s what made me think of it, because she can be mean, but even that was more layered than what you were talking about at the very beginning.
Yes. Their relationship is just, like I said, so much more nuanced now. It’s a beautiful, complicated, adult relationship between those two characters and neither person is one thing or another. They’re dynamic individuals and that’s what makes it such a spectacular show to be on, because that’s where all of the characters have gone.
There is a promo, a promo still that shows Cuddy holding House’s hand while he’s sitting or they’re both sitting on his sofa. He seems like he’s in a lot of pain. Can you give us any insight into that scene?
I can’t divulge. I can’t divulge. I don’t want to ruin it.
Have you — either by yourself or in consultation with show's producers and the writers — defined the Cuddy/House back story any more? How do you think that they became so close?
Well, initially, he was kind of legendary in the school she was an undergraduate in and she, I think, was maybe even a little bit obsessed with him and she ended up auditing a class that she knew he would be in. I think he was doing like a brush-up class or something and she audited it to kind of check him out, because he was exactly the kind of lunatic she liked.
I relate to her taste in men. I definitely don’t have the best taste in men. I don’t know that intelligence and taste necessarily go hand-in-hand. I think what we’re attracted to in finding a partner is usually something that resolves some complicated piece of our past. For Cuddy, it’s House and it always has been.
Is there going to be any nice time with Cuddy and House together or basically are they going to go back to ignoring each other, like they did after they kissed?
I can’t tell you that. I will say that episode 23 and 24 are really exciting episodes. I’m so excited to see them myself. We had great direction and the writing is really tight and it’s going to be a good one.
Hugh Laurie and Lisa Edelstein in "House"
We haven’t seen Cuddy’s daughter in a while. Is she going to be more in the story line?
I don’t know. I never know what they have planned.
What do you think about Cuddy’s wardrobe?
I love Cuddy’s wardrobe. I tell you, I’ll never wear another pencil skirt again, but I do, I love the wardrobe. I think it’s sexy and chic and edgy for somebody in that position. I love what it says about her; that this is her realm. She lives her entire life in the hospital, so I think it’s great.
With the upcoming "Under My Skin" episode, what are some of the hallucinations that House is fearing?
Well, we’ve already established that Amber [Volakis, the interventional radiologist played by Anne Dudek] is a big part of what’s happening. She, for some reason, has become the voice of his subconscious and she’s not going away.
What was it like working with Carl Reiner for the fifth-season finale?
It’s Carl Reiner. I mean that’s incredibly cool. He’s great. He’s 87 years old, and that guy is showing up to work and doing his thing. He’s hilarious.
Any stories you want to share?
Yes. I’d actually met him once before at a restaurant, sitting at a table with Mel Brooks. I had to go over and say hello, because I just love both of them. It was a really funny moment. It’s hard to describe on the phone, but it was great to see him again, great to work with him and actually have that kind of experience to talk about for the rest of my life.
How long do you think it will be before we see an episode about the swine flu?
Who knows? We’re not shooting right now. We’re finished. We have done pandemic episodes. We did an episode about meningitis where the whole hospital had to be quarantined. Remember that one? It was like Season 3 or something, so we’ve already done that. That’s so ’05.
What is your favorite moment out of the two episodes that are coming up?
Well, certainly I’m not going to complain about the kissing scene. I haven’t seen them yet, so I can’t say, because I don’t know if I’m going to be embarrassed or happy. They were great episodes to shoot. I had a lot of fun and worked really hard. I can’t really tell you much without ruining it.
For the rest of the season preceding these two episodes, what was your favorite moment?
God. There are too many. I loved the episode. It’s another kiss, but I don’t mean to be hard up, like that’s the only time I get kissed, but I loved the way they got House and Cuddy together. I loved it. I loved that she was suffering so much and he was suffering so much and that’s what brought them together initially. I thought that was a beautiful moment of writing.
Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein in "House"
I wanted to ask you about the other male character on the show that Cuddy kind of spars with, which is Dr. James Wilson, played by Robert Sean Leonard. Cuddy and Wilson are sort of rivals for House’s attention. How do you play those scenes and how you approach that relationship, because it’s very unusual on TV?
It’s interesting that that’s how you perceive it. I don’t feel like they compete for his attention. I feel like they’ve got each other’s back. One kind of knows what the other one’s job is in relationship to manipulating House. They’re good friends. I think they’re really good friends.
Were you sort of affected by Cuddy sort of using Wilson to facilitate House and sort of get him out of the way to deal with a problem as an administrator as opposed to as a friend?
I think, like real, live, human relationships everything is complicated and sometimes we’re doing things for ourselves and sometimes we’re doing things for others. If you’re going to be that tight with two people, meaning her and Wilson and House, you do fall sometimes awry of being actually the most honest person in the world. I think he just calls her out on it, but I think that’s a sign of a healthy relationship more than anything else.
I’m very interested in knowing how the rest of the staff reacts to Cuddy and House being together, because there are no secrets at Princeton-Plainsboro.
I think that the rest of the staff is pretty much waiting for them to get together. I don’t think it’s a secret. Sometimes when people have chemistry with each other it’s just so obvious. It’s not like he doesn’t talk about it. He’s constantly referring to her body and her way and teasing her in front of everybody else. It’s like schoolyard banter. He might as well be chasing her and pulling her braids.
But there’s no jealousy between Cuddy and Dr. Allison Cameron (played by Jennifer Morrison)?
I don’t think Cameron feels jealous. I think Cameron, part of her sees the House/Cuddy relationship as the right thing and maybe a part of her will always have that crush on House, like we all carry a torch for somebody, but no. I think, if anything, Cuddy worries about Cameron.
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