Hugh Laurie's Bathroom Audition

British comedy actor Hugh Laurie won his lead role in the new drama HOUSE after sending producers an audition tape he filmed in an African bathroom.

Laurie was in Namibia shooting the upcoming film Flight Of The Phoenix when he heard about the role of brutal doctor GREGORY HOUSE. Not wanting to miss out on the chance to secure the role, he taped an audition in his hotel bathroom.

He explains, "It was the only place with enough light."

The critically-acclaimed show, which debuted in America last night (16NOV04), Laurie plays an infectious-disease specialist at a New Jersey hospital who's far from pleasant to his colleagues.

And while Laurie is enjoying his new character, he does have one regret.

He says, "One of the things that makes me feel guilty about playing this role is that my dad was a doctor. He was a very gentle soul and, I think, a very good doctor. And I'm probably being paid more to become a fake version of my own father."