Jesse makes a Hollywood House call
My friend Carly posted this article on a Neighbours forum that I visit, I thought you guys might be interested in reading too, so I'm reposting. :)
Jesse makes a Hollywood House call
English actor Hugh Laurie has worked with Emma Thompson, Judy Davis, and Jessica Lange, but it is a heartthrob from Neighbours who has attracted his most lavish praise. "Jesse Spencer is the furture," declares Laurie during a short break from filming House, Ten's new medical drama series.
The former Blackadder star plays the signature role of Dr. Gregory House opposite Spencer (Dr. Robert Chase), who is fast becoming a rising star in the US. "I predict in 18 months, the show will be called Chase," Laurie says. "I think Jesse Spencer is the future and I'm just the dying embers of a previous generation."
Tongue-in-cheek praise or not, Spencer, 26, is certainly just as happy to be working with Laurie on a show that has become a hit in the US. "It's a really good show," boasts Spencer, who played Billy Kennedy on Neighbours from 1994 to 2000. "It has fantastic scripts and writing and I'm genuinely happy to be part of such a classy production."
Think ER meets CSI - lots of those whooshing, funfair-style trips through the arteries of the body. House has less sex and blood, but more humour and a good dose of intrigue. Dr House is an irreverent doctor who hates treating patients and has a prescription drug habit and an almost God-like ability to diagnose weird medical conditions.
Dr Chase is one of three young specialist doctors, inlcuding Dr Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) and Dr Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who help House solve medical mysteries. While you only briefly meet Dr Chase when House debuted in Australia last week, Spencer soon assumes the pivotal role in the strong cast. X-Men director Bryan Singer, who is in Sydney directing Superman Returns, is also the executive producer of this unusual medical drama series. House attracts about 20 million viewers a week in the US and a second series has been commissioned. "The pilot was great and Bryan Singer was going to make sure it was good from the start," Spencer says. "There was a slight hesitation (in signing a five-year contract after his long stint on Neighbours) but if it does go for five years, then it's going to be a hit. I can't see it going down the tube."
It's no small irony that Spencer has ended up playing a fictional doctor on TV given he almost abandoned acting for a career in medicine. "I was heading in that direction," says the former teen heart-throb, who has spent the past five years doing film and theatre in Britain. "I wasn't really sure at the time I was doing Neighbours whether I wanted to continue on that path. It was a fantastic experience, but I didn't know if it was going to be a career - so many people can burn out. A lot of kids give up school to go and do television. I was lucky. I was forced to finish school. The condition under which my folks allowed me to do Neighbours was that I studied and got into university. By the end of Neighbours I had decided I wanted to persue acting. I love film. I love watching actors. I love stories and I love performing. It is so different coming from such an intellectual family. It's very freeing to have the opportunity to work in a creative field."
The intellectuals in his family are mostly doctors - his GP father, a surgeon brother, an opthalmologist (eye doctor) brother and a younger sister who is studying medicine. Spencer's mother, Robyn, was once a candidate for Pauline Hanson's controversial One Nation party. "I got into university at Monash to study medicine. I had the place and I never went," says Spencer, who moved to London to persue acting.
A family medical background is also shared by Laurie, whose father was a GP in London. Laurie's father took him to London Hospital when he was 16 to inspire him to a medical career. "I listened to all the work I had to do and the exams I would have to take and something inside me must have said, 'sod that'," Laurie says. Instead, he went to Cambridge University to study anthropology and ended up producing The Cellar Tapes with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson for the renowned Footlights Revue.
Herald Sun TV Guide July 3-9, 2005
By Phillip Koch
Page 5
Pic of Jesse on the front cover here
Cross posted to house_md
Jesse makes a Hollywood House call
English actor Hugh Laurie has worked with Emma Thompson, Judy Davis, and Jessica Lange, but it is a heartthrob from Neighbours who has attracted his most lavish praise. "Jesse Spencer is the furture," declares Laurie during a short break from filming House, Ten's new medical drama series.
The former Blackadder star plays the signature role of Dr. Gregory House opposite Spencer (Dr. Robert Chase), who is fast becoming a rising star in the US. "I predict in 18 months, the show will be called Chase," Laurie says. "I think Jesse Spencer is the future and I'm just the dying embers of a previous generation."
Tongue-in-cheek praise or not, Spencer, 26, is certainly just as happy to be working with Laurie on a show that has become a hit in the US. "It's a really good show," boasts Spencer, who played Billy Kennedy on Neighbours from 1994 to 2000. "It has fantastic scripts and writing and I'm genuinely happy to be part of such a classy production."
Think ER meets CSI - lots of those whooshing, funfair-style trips through the arteries of the body. House has less sex and blood, but more humour and a good dose of intrigue. Dr House is an irreverent doctor who hates treating patients and has a prescription drug habit and an almost God-like ability to diagnose weird medical conditions.
Dr Chase is one of three young specialist doctors, inlcuding Dr Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) and Dr Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who help House solve medical mysteries. While you only briefly meet Dr Chase when House debuted in Australia last week, Spencer soon assumes the pivotal role in the strong cast. X-Men director Bryan Singer, who is in Sydney directing Superman Returns, is also the executive producer of this unusual medical drama series. House attracts about 20 million viewers a week in the US and a second series has been commissioned. "The pilot was great and Bryan Singer was going to make sure it was good from the start," Spencer says. "There was a slight hesitation (in signing a five-year contract after his long stint on Neighbours) but if it does go for five years, then it's going to be a hit. I can't see it going down the tube."
It's no small irony that Spencer has ended up playing a fictional doctor on TV given he almost abandoned acting for a career in medicine. "I was heading in that direction," says the former teen heart-throb, who has spent the past five years doing film and theatre in Britain. "I wasn't really sure at the time I was doing Neighbours whether I wanted to continue on that path. It was a fantastic experience, but I didn't know if it was going to be a career - so many people can burn out. A lot of kids give up school to go and do television. I was lucky. I was forced to finish school. The condition under which my folks allowed me to do Neighbours was that I studied and got into university. By the end of Neighbours I had decided I wanted to persue acting. I love film. I love watching actors. I love stories and I love performing. It is so different coming from such an intellectual family. It's very freeing to have the opportunity to work in a creative field."
The intellectuals in his family are mostly doctors - his GP father, a surgeon brother, an opthalmologist (eye doctor) brother and a younger sister who is studying medicine. Spencer's mother, Robyn, was once a candidate for Pauline Hanson's controversial One Nation party. "I got into university at Monash to study medicine. I had the place and I never went," says Spencer, who moved to London to persue acting.
A family medical background is also shared by Laurie, whose father was a GP in London. Laurie's father took him to London Hospital when he was 16 to inspire him to a medical career. "I listened to all the work I had to do and the exams I would have to take and something inside me must have said, 'sod that'," Laurie says. Instead, he went to Cambridge University to study anthropology and ended up producing The Cellar Tapes with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson for the renowned Footlights Revue.
Herald Sun TV Guide July 3-9, 2005
By Phillip Koch
Page 5
Pic of Jesse on the front cover here
Cross posted to house_md