Hugh Laurie interview - Radio Times, June 2003

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Hugh Laurie interview - Radio Times, June 2003

In comedy drama series Fortysomething, Hugh Laurie plays a man having a midlife crisis. Andrew Duncan meets the tortured soul.

On his parents

"I wouldn't say [my father] was uptight, but upright and pathologically shy. I suppose I get a lot of my character from him - also my mother. Humility was the quality she admired above all. Comfort was the work of the devil. Dad wasn't joyless. He had a strapping Presbyterian heartiness. My mother took it even further. She was a complicated personality and we had our good times and bad."

On taking up acting

"The reason [I started acting] is not pleasing to the ear. It has to do with showing off to girls. I was so unconfident with them it was a relief to know that if I couldn't interest them in any other way, I could at least make them laugh on stage. I thought maybe I'd catch someone's eye."

Early career plans

"I thought hard about becoming a doctor, but didn't in the end. I wanted to go into the Hong Kong police. We're all susceptible to images. For me it was probably The Third Man. I saw myself as Trevor Howard getting out of a Land Rover, being laconic and sucking on a pipe."

On midlife crisis

"I had ambitions of opening the batting for England, climbing Kilimanjaro. I assumed there was plenty of time, but now the clocks have gone forward and I'm late, stuck because all my fantasies were based on the achievements of younger men like David Gower. I have no older role models. I don't want to become home secretary or conduct the Philharmonic. Who would I be now as an actor, father, husband, writer? I don't know. And that's tragic. This realisation should have happened when I was 35, but being rather dim I didn't perceive it until six months ago."

On the differences between US and UK TV

"I'd like to play a clever person, but there are few opportunities in this country. British drama is about stupidity. My theory is our writers are motivated by revenge on cruel teachers and playground bullies who made their lives miserable. Americans write about those they admire - The West Wing is about characters who are angelic. Our first position would be that all politicians are on the make. I'm depressed by that view. It's lazy and cowardly, and makes humour extemely cruel. I'd like to do more positive things. I'm worn out and bored by cynicism."

On his unfulfilled ambitions

"My autumnal career will be playing in a hotel lobby somewhere. I know it's not considered a rewarding gig in the world of professional music. I have a friend who plays five hours at a big London hotel for £25 and a meal. No one listens, but you have a skill, and there's something romantic about the freedom to ply your trade anywhere in the world."

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Read our 2005 interview with Hugh Laurie - or take a look at our full House guide.