In House M.D., which country is Dr. Robert Chase originally from?

Dr. Robert Chase is originally from Australia in House M.D. Jesse Spencer, the actor who plays Chase, is also Australian, which helped make the character’s background especially recognizable to viewers.

Chase is one of House’s original fellows at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. His Australian identity is established through dialogue and character history, while his professional path includes intensive care, diagnostic medicine, and surgery. His father, Rowan Chase, is also a physician and an important influence on his backstory.

The character’s nationality is sometimes confused with New Zealand because both countries are associated with the region and because Chase works in an international medical environment. The series specifically identifies him as Australian.

This fact concerns Robert Chase, not Hugh Laurie’s real nationality or the fictional hospital’s location. Laurie is English, the hospital is in New Jersey, and Chase is the Australian member of House’s original diagnostic team.