But everything changed when a half-assed audition tape he recorded while on the set of a film he shot in the African desert, Flight of the Phoenix, ended up in the production office of House. When executive producer Bryan Singer saw it, he knew that he'd found his leading man.

During lunch break on the House set, Laurie heads to his trailer. A sign on the door congratulates him on his recent Screen Actors Guild award. Inside, artifacts from well-wishers are scattered about, including a photo of a big white bucket with the word "antidepressants" scrawled in black marker.

Laurie settles into the couch, places a to-go salad on his lap and shakes his head in mock shame. To prepare for the interview he has researched my writing resume, which includes a book with Motley Crue. "I feel like I'm such a disappointiment to you," he says, beginning his fourth warning that he will be a horrible subject for an interview. "I mean, you're hanging out with Motley Crue and now you're talking to some middle-aged fucking (Sorry Miss Mo, he said it, not me) actor on a TV show. I wish I could give you some Motley Crue stuff. I wish I had a tour bus. I wish I had- oh, fuck, I wish I had something. What can I give you?"

Well for starters, what's up with that picture of a bucket of antidepressants?"
Oh, oh. Yes. Yes. That was from a friend. A friend in England. Yeah. Well spotted. You don't miss a trick. Now I'm terrified of what else you've seen.

People have mentioned to me a period in the Nineties where you were depressed. Was that just a dark patch in your life, or does it continue?
I have continued on and off to see a therapist, as lots of people do. And I do feel like for the most part it's behind me. But I have some very, very black days on this show, very black days. But a lot of that has to do with just finding the situation I'm in overwhelming. There are days when I feel very lonely and vulnerable.

Do you mean overwhelmed and exposed in the sense that there's too much attention on you and every movement you make?
That sort of stuff, yeah. And there is no escape from it. It never stops. I can never just say, "I need a couple of hours to just go walk in the park and stare at a tree." There's always someone rapping on the door of the trailer saying, "The camera is ready." It's just relentless. Whatever mood you're in, however you feel physically, whatever situation you're experiencing, the machine goes on. [A cautionary note to the reader: In print, Laurie's words sound darker, more depressed, more self-pitying than they do in person. So, imagine in these passages, not the negative monotone of House but, instead, a voice with a charming British accent, a loopy smile, a self-deprecating sense of humor and a neurotic tendency to over-think everything.]

Have you found that playing House has affected your personality and made you more cynical and misanthropic?
No, though I suppose being on television has changed my life. I feel very self-conscious and I feel like I can't go out. I hate being looked at. I hate being photographed. I have this weird superstition about the camera stealing part of your soul. I sort of believe in that, actually.

Are you serious?
It does. Well, obviously, in terms of my molecular structure, I haven't lost anything by being photgraphed. I understand the laws of physics. But if the photographer has something, you must have lost something. And the idea that any image of you will be looked at and distributed and pored over and commented on is depressing. You feel intruded upon. Most people would say, quite rightly, "That's the price you pay."

What are your ambitions now, for when the season ends?
I'm a pretty ambition-free sort of person. I never had a career plan, much to the frustration of the people who are supposedly directing my career.

Maybe "ambition" is the wrong word. What do you want to do next, considering that you do also write books, screenplays and music?
Well, being the sort of general malcontent that I am, I always want to be doing what I'm not doing. So I'm here, actually, and the idea of sitting at home writing a novel appeals to me. But of course if I was sitting at home writing a novel, I would love to be playing music. I'm always wanting to be doing something else. That's a definite defect. A flaw in the character.

I noticed that two different people since I've been around you have called you sexy. Has House become an accidental sex symbol?
I don't accept it at all. I don't see that dcharacter as sexy, but he has a sort of Byronic charm. He's damaged, and he's sort of a loner. But those people who said that are barking up the wrong tree. [Pause] Who said it?
I think it was the-
I shouldn't even ask that. Never mind.

When you look back on your movie career, how do you feel about your body of work?
It's been a mixed bag. A very mixed bag, frankly. One thing that happens when you have kids is you become less precious about what you can and can't do. There is no denying that I took some gigs because the rent had to be paid and I was trying to feed five people [A wife, three children and himself].

What were the influences that inspired the character of Prince George on "Blackadder"?
I don't know. I think I've always felt a strong affinity with stupidity. I simply find it easy to play stupid people. That can only be because I am myself stupid and I am baffled by the world. I find the world incomprehensible and I can't make sense of it. My most common, most predominant emotion is one of bafflement and that's just what comes out in that kind of character. Just playing the fool. It may also at one time have been a desire not to appear threatening to people.

You have this sense of humility that...
It's all a front.
See: You're even humble about being humble. What is it that baffles you?
Absolutely everything. I'm just constantly surprised at the way people behave, the things people say. I so rarely see it coming. And I'm so envious of people who do.

What would be an example of when you felt like that?
See, that. You asking me- that is an example. I suppose I should have seen that coming. And yet you surprised me. And I'm stting here with my mouth open and scratching my head going, "Wow, I just never saw that coming."

Do you feel like your personal evolution mirrors that of the characters you play, going from innocent buffoons to this intelligent, world weary expert?
No. I actually feel stupider and less experienced with every year that goes by.

Why is that?
I don't know. My memory of how I was at the age of eighteen was that I knew absolutely everything there was to know. There were no subjects on which I didn't have a coherent and forceful opinion. And as the years go by, that has just fallen away. I feel like a baby now. If feel as if I have less and less technical expertise. I feel like I know nothing about anything. I suppose what is actually happening is that the arrrogence of one's youth is just sort of disinigrating. And the truth is, I never knew anything.

Did you have an experience that humbled you or made you less confident?
Almost every day and in almost every seen I do. I never feel like, "Oh, boy, I hit that one out of the park." In fact, I usually feel slightly embarassed, slightly humiliated, and I slink away like a man whose come out with his pants off. On weekends, I voluntarily go through the same thing when I go boxing. The whole point of the exercise is to be humiliated by someone who knows what they're doing. And it reminds me that I don't know anything. And I find that very bracing.

Maybe you have a strong sense of guilt and that's your Achilles' heel.
Yeah, guilt I can do. If I have any expertise at all, it's in the area of guilt. I have a black belt in it. If you ever want a guilt-off, next time we meet let's see how we match up. I'm pretty confident in that area.

Because you were raised in a strict manner?
I wouldn't say strict, but traditional. My dad was a gentle soul and by no means a disciplinarian. My mother exerted a firmer hand. I don't know if that was a question of discipline or whether I just annoyed her. It was more the latter. She just found me annoying a lot of the time. And quite rightly.

You were the youngest of four siblings, and the youngest often tries to get the most attention, so I suppose that can be annoying.
Well, according to my sisters and brother, I did get all the attention, and that annoyed them. But, that's not how it looked to me. Maybe, I really am a typical actor who just can't get enough attention.

What was their form of punishment if you misbehaved?
My mother would smack me. My father never did. But that makes it sound like I was knocked around. I absolutely wasn't. Why am I even bringing it up? I should say, "No, that never happened." Her daily form of punishment was sulking. She was a good sulker.

So that's where the guilt comes from?
Yes, I inherited that skill from her.

Who were the actors or comedians that you admired when you were young?
Peter Cook, Peter Sellers and Michael Palin. I had a hankering to follow Peter Ustinov's footsteps. He projected the aura of a gentleman amateur. He was fantastically accomplished. He could write a book or act or direct. He made them look like enjoyable pastimes instead of backbreaking work.

If House is such a misanthrope, why does he sacrifice so much to save his patients?
The shows creator, David Shore, has been quite candid about his debt to Sherlock Holmes, and Holmes cared very little for people. The one thing that could rouse him from his langour was the puzzle, the solving of the problem and it's the same with House.

Since House is a Vicodin addict, did you try it to understand the character?
I did, yeah. And I recommend it. It's very- no, I don't recommend it. Kids, if you're reading this- no, but it is good stuff. People tell me that it has a very different effect if you're actually in pain, though. If you are using it for fun, it's quite different. And the fun side is excellent. It really is.

In the same way did you have to try LSD and a prostitute for the episode where you did that?
No. That didn't come up. You know, I should have thought of it. Damn it.

Do you worry about House becoming a parody of himself, especially as the seasons go on?
Absolutely. The show is now in its late adolescence. But what will the show be like when it's middle-aged? Or what kind of a death can the show look forward to? He died peacefully in his sleep, or he had a long drawn-out miserable existence.

Do you worry about developing skeletal problems from walking with a limp on set?
Yes, I do. I remember watching a movie about someone escaping from a German prisoner-of-war camp by pretending to be mad. But the twist is that he ends up going mad. So by affecting something for long enough, it actually becomes real. There may come a time when my pelvis is shot and I just can't move. I actually have some shoulder problems, which I figure has to do with walking on a cane. But it's good to know that I'm suffering for my art. I feel good about that. A bit of pain makes me feel better.