tavis: good evening from los angeles. tonight a conversation with one of prime-time tv's most popular and successful actors, hugh laurie. he has received six emmy nominations for his unconventional program "house." >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on

your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: i am pleased to welcome hugh laurie to this program. he continues his role on one of tv's most popular and you need from us, "house." the show does kick of it seventh season this week. airs every monday at 8:00 on fox. here now, a scene from "house." >> i want to move on, and i cannot. all i can think about is you.

i just need to know if you and i can work. >> you think i can fix myself? >> i don't know. >> i am the most screwed up person in the world. >> i know. i love you. i wish i didn't. but i cannot help it. tavis: here lari, good to have the on the program, sir. -- hugh laurie, a bit too heavy on the program. while the clip was playing, you have them turn the monitor around. you have a problem watching yourself? >> i do, i have a huge problem. worse than watching is hearing. i cannot stand to hear my own

voice. what is coming out of my mouth right now sounds fantastically interesting to me. it is rich and light in shade, it goes up and down, but when i hear it on tv are on someone's answering machine, i sound like i have had half my brain removed. tavis: every actor has his or her own process. you don't want to hear yourself and see yourself, how do you critique yourself? >> that is a good question. before that, i would say, white and might even an actor? tavis: wait a minute. we'll start with the actor part. >> if it's really that unbearable, what am i doing? and i don't know the answer. it is some deep-seated need that i cannot explain. i wish i could. i am going to have to come up with something right now. tavis: you can come back on the

show again. >> i don't know, i suppose actors crave attention of some kind, or that have suffered some form of arrested development and are still living a child's fantasy existence. tavis: what can it be as simple as this is your gift, you are calling? >> well, thank you very much. for rising to my baked. -- rising to mybait. [laughter] i did know from a very young age this was something i could do. when school friends would think about appearing on stage and it was the most frightening and intimidating experience ever, i knew it was something i could do. i don't know why that is, but i just did. so maybe in that sense, there is

some sort of sense of calling there. if you know anything at a very young age -- let's be honest, is a way of showing off to girls. [laughter] let's not skip that part. when i did it at school and university, it was definitely a way of showing off to girls. when i started doing it professionally, the only thing is that in my mind, the audience changed from being predominately female in character became -- change and became mail. -- became male. the audience was something to be outwitted, and had to be beaten, somehow. you had to treat them or fool them or overwhelm them. which is not as enjoyable and experience. the showing off to girls is a

much better way of thinking of this. i have soared lately come back to that. i am not talking about really showing ofing in one's mind the audience as a female entity or female character. tavis: the recall beyond the showing off part, do you recall what play you were in, what you are doing when you felt something more than just showing off? i really enjoy this and i am pretty good at it and it means something to me. >> i do, and actually it was not even a play. it was a short sketch. it was not the moment on stage that are remembered. what i do remember is that i won a prize. everyone in school had to do something. i did this little sketch. my parents were supposed to come to the show, and they were late.

they arrived late, so they missed me doing this sketch, but they did arrive in time for them to hear me winning this prize. i saw them smile at each other when my name was read out. i will never forget that. that was like a very big thing. i had sort of brought them pleasure and satisfaction, and that was a good feeling, to feel that i had not let them down. that was a very good feeling. i do remember that moment very clearly. tavis: now we have figured out how and why is that you are an actor, we will go back to the initial question. if you don't like to hear yourself and wash yourself, -- watch yourself, how do you know whether you are hitting the mark, whether you are delivering what you want to deliver? do you rely on others for that?

>> to a degree. i am also watching myself at the time when i do it. i am watching myself and listening to myself. i feel slightly embarrassed saying this, because i know that some actors, some part of me feels that a proper actor is so subsumed into the character, so immersed in a moment, that they are unconscious of any other consideration, not even aware of a camera. that is not me. i am very, very aware at all times. i am watching myself, i listen to myself, i am judging and critiquing myself all the time. i will know when i do something and i will immediately say, can i do another one, because i wanted to do something there and it did not quite work. i am doing that on the spot. when the show is actually done, there is nothing more i can do, i am feeling a powerlessness. i cannot reach into the tv and

change it. i wish i could, but i cannot. so that feeling of being out of control, i find it really hard to look at. tavis: i was just reading a piece the other day about frank sinatra. i am paraphrasing, but he made the comment that you should never ignore an inner voice that tells you that something can be better, even when everybody else says it's ok. so obviously you have that on the set. you obviously have this inner voice when you know -- >> i do, but i hesitate to align myself with frank sinatra, the chairman of the board. but, what the heck. [laughter] it is sort of like that. yes, i agree with that.

i think that voice, which is there all the time, it is a really peculiar thing, psychologically that one is able to be within the trauma, within the scene, within the character, and yet have another part of one's brain that is actually outside and judging, that could be better, and that could be better. that is not the way to go, go the other way. that voice is always there. it is a strange thing, but then the brain is a peculiar thing itself. tavis: i mentioned frank sinatra. we owe this conversation to a mutual friend of ours, james taylor. we have been trying to get you on this show for a while now, but you are always doing a bunch of stuff, including music. obviously you are a james taylor fan, as i am.

>> the songs are so beautiful, but the vibe that he gives out, he is so funny, and yet at the same time there's something so romantic about him. there is a great sort of nobility about him, which is a hard thing to pull off. he is self-deprecating. he clowns around a little bit, but there is always that sort of beautiful strain of melancholy in his songs. tavis: he and carol had gone on tour together. >> i felt like we were witnessing the last night of a piece of american history. tavis: i felt the same way. sinatra, taylor, laurie.

you are a musician as well. >> i am a fantasist, is what i am. i fantasize about being a musician. tavis: i have a picture that says you are. on the monitor, i can see you. >> but that might not be plugged in. [laughter] tavis: how did the music thing happen for you? >> it is something i have always loved. when i was a kid and i went through the normal piano lessons that people go through, i hated that. i don't deny it. i hated that part of it. i think classical music tuition, when i was a child, was an abomination. i still think in some ways it is one of life's great tragedies for everybody who gives up an

instrument. i think everybody who gives up an instrument has lost a big part of their -- >tavis: you are making me feel bad. i am about to slit my wrists. >> is there anyone you can think of who is glad they gave up learning piano? there is no such human being who exists. tavis: i think you are right. anyone who has ever played an instrument, as they grow up, they regret that they gave it up. >> which is not to say that they did not have extremely good reasons to give it up. i went on a hunger strike. i am or four days. tavis: i did not do that. >> i did actually have a bar of chocolate, but my mother did not know that. as far as she knew, it was four straight days without eating, and eventually she cracked, so i

won that one. i gave up and i did not touch the piano for nearly 10 years after that. tavis: what brought you back? >> i would just tear piano players and our hear music -- i would just hear piano players and i wanted to climb inside it and understand how it works and be able to it do it myself, and expressed the same feelings that i hear on a record. tavis: how often do you get a chance to do that? >> those pictures you have of me with the unplugged keyboard, i do a couple of times a year with a banned from tv, and it is a terrific outfit. i must say it has gotten pretty good. we started four or five years ago. in the early days, we were

allowed an enthusiastic. but the last few -- we were loud and enthusiastic. they were not embarrassing shows at all. they are really, really good. but more recently than that, i have actually started making a record. a record company came and said, do you want to do this? i beat down the natural response i have had for most of my life, which is i am not ready, i could never do that. i thought, i am going to go for it. in this life, you tend not to regret the things you do and you don't do. i thought if 10 years go by and i don't get the chance again, that will hurt me a lot. we are about halfway through

now. we have done about six tracks. tavis: i knew you were working on an album, because in that chair some weeks ago was a great artist who was rushing out of my studio to get to a recording studio to spend some time with you. i said, you are going to play with who? >> that artist was dr. john. i did not know he had come from here. so this is the actual chair he sat in. i worshipped that guy for as long as i remember, 30 odd years. that was an amazing experience. the session was great. i planned to get there before him so i could rehearse with the bass player and he could just sort of sweet and in regal fashion.

maybe he cut the interview short, because he was there early, before i got there. he was already sitting at the piano and i had to kick him off and say i am going to play this, you are just going to sing. tavis: how do you keep dr. john off a piano? >> he just said that is great, i don't have to learn it. let's face it, there is a man who has nothing else to prove on the piano. even this hearing him play those courts, i just melt. tavis: you have an affinity for new orleans and the music? >> i do. one can never really say so and so is the greatest, he just happens to be my favorite living exponent of that particular form, which also happens to be my favorite, all the way back to jelly roll morton, whose

birthday is today, or a few days ago. tavis: your life is so fascinating, so i am glad we got some of that out of the way. going back to "house" now, another great actor, robert david hall, place the coroner. in real life, he walks on a cane. he was on this program, and your name came up in the conversation. he was saying how grateful he was to you and the producers of "house" for putting you on that cane. he was saying how grateful he was that you put that character on a cane. i suspect you must hear that from time to time, people are grateful to see that. >> i do, but in some ways it is a very difficult subject.

it is a very complex issue. there is no denying the fact reliance on the cane has somehow affected his character. he is a man in physical pain, for one thing. he is also a man who yearns for a physical wholeness that has been denied him. at the same time, the outside world, and i think this is undeniably true, gives him a kind of license that he might not otherwise get were he not to walk with a cane. it is almost -- while i am holding this thing, you cannot touch me. you might say that is hypocritical, that it should make no difference. the fact is, they do treat

people differently. it is a very complicated thing that is bound up both in what has made him the character he is and what allows him to get away with the behavior he gets away with. i don't know if that second part of it is a good thing, but it is a real thing. it operates both as a dramatic device as a character on television, but also in real life, people sort of deferred. the philip kind of awkward this that means they will allow things -- they feel a kind of ness.rd nest tavis: i bought into this peculiar, strange craziness of this character, house. obviously people love the show. people love you and the character, and yet this dive is

cranky, he is weird. you can describe him in a variety of ways. what is it about this character coming back season bac after season? >> i really nervous trying to dig constructed and work out what are the successful ingredients and the less successful ones. i think as soon as you consciously try to lean on particular things, is it like opening an oven door before the supply rises so that it will not rise -- before the souffle rises? i suppose -- i personally like the character. i know he is cranky and people describe him as mean and all kinds of things, which he is, but nonetheless i like him.

i find him extremely funny. there is an exhilaration i find in spending time with someone who doesn't care about the social consequences. it is both frightening but also very exciting to have someone just unconstrained by being liked, for one thing. he doesn't care if he is liked, applauded, or booed. that allows him to get at truths that other people would not dare confront. tavis: used the words frightened and excited. b.g.e. you used the words frightened and excited. when i saw you at that james taylor concert backstage, i wanted to immediately run up and

speak to you because i am such a huge fan. you'd think that as a guy who does this every night, i should know better, but i was excited to meet you, and frightened. i did not know whether hugh laurie was like house. when i saw how nice she were to james, i said let me just venture out and introduce myself to hugh laurie. >> i am sweetness and light. i suppose there may be -- i may not be aware of it, because then people would avoid me. if that is the case, i suppose i should be able to turn that to my advantage somehow and use it to propel myself and intimidate people into various situations.

tavis: i am glad i got past that fear. obviously you are not going to tell me much about the new season, but what can you tell me about why i should tune in this year? >> we have sort of teased the relationship between these two characters, between house and his boss. we have played with it and flirted with it for six years now. we have finally taken the leap, and it is a gamble with the audience. some people will like it in some people will not. i think we had to do it, because i don't think you can just go do the same thing here in and year out. particularly when part of what you are doing is about characters. we are not about just solving crimes. the process of in less than the prince and dna results that come back and all that sort of stuff. we are telling stories about

characters, and eventually we had to do something of this nature, but it is a gamble. that in itself is riding an exciting. -- frightening and exciting. tavis: we will see how it works out. i am so glad you came on. it is good to have you here. hugh laurie. that is our show for tonight. thanks for tuning in. until next time, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: join me next time for conversation with filmmaker ken burns. that is next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes.

>> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> we are pbs.