Hugh was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix when he recorded his audition tape for House. He did the reading in his hotel bathroom, because "It was the only place with enough light." One of his Phoenix co-stars read the Dr. Cuddy lines, and another held the camera. Hugh was unshaven and unkempt from the filming, for which he apologized. The scruffy look was later imported into the character of House.

"I saw the tape and he did a flawless American (accent) and he was all shaggy and unshaven and he kind of just jumped out of the screen," Singer says.But would viewers take to a caustic, limping lead character who informs his eager interns in the pilot episode "treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable"? "That was always a concern," Singer says. "But to me, I felt as long as he's good at what he does and he's saving lives and he's got those Hugh Laurie eyes, then he could get away with anything." (The Age, Australia)

David Shore's comments, from a Q and A in Macleans:

Q.How quickly did you know that Hugh Laurie was your man?

A. It was one of those stories that you read about that sound so incredible. Obviously I did not write the character with him in mind. But as soon as he read for it, it was: "Yes!" He wasn't even the way I had pictured the character. But it was: "Oh God, this works!"

Hugh's description: " 'At that time quite a few actors on the film were being sent things and were making tapes and sending them in because they wanted to keep themselves in the swim. So it was almost a daily occurrence that someone would say, 'Oh, I just got a script, what do you think of it?' I got these four pages and I thought, 'Oh, this is well-written stuff.' You know it, straightaway. But I assumed the character of House was going to be a sort of peripheral entertainment buddy. The scenes I got described House and Wilson and I actually read for both. But I saw that Wilson was the main character. He was the sort of clean-cut hero who would save lives and do battle with evil and fight crime generally, and I would be the sort of irritable but softhearted sidekick. So I did this tape and really thought no more about it for that reason.' Before he knew it, Laurie, 46, was cast as the acerbic anti-hero and working non-stop." - KRT News Service, Luianne Lee

How Hugh became House