Hugh Laurie plays Gregory House, the brilliant but abrasive diagnostician in House M.D.
Laurie was already known in Britain for comedy before taking the role, including work with Stephen Fry and appearances in Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster. House required him to perform an American accent, which helped make his casting less immediately recognizable to some viewers.
The role became a major turning point in Laurie's career. He won two Golden Globe Awards for playing House and received multiple Emmy nominations for the performance. The character's limp and dependence on pain medication are central parts of the drama, but the series presents his medical reasoning as the main engine of its mysteries.
Some viewers confuse Laurie's role with that of Robert Sean Leonard, who played House's closest friend, James Wilson. Laurie remained the lead performer throughout all eight seasons of the medical drama.