Lisa Edelstein Interview – House’s Cuddy Gets Focus Episode

Not that long ago, Wilson got his own feature episode on House, and now it’s Cuddy’s turn. Lisa Edelstein held a Q&A to talk about her character generally, and the episode “5 to 9,” which airs tonight.

The show is certainly mixing things up, and I for one am glad. These two character specific (sort of) episodes, along with the jumps and twists that have gone on this season are keeping things fresh, and the show needs it.

During a day in the life of Princeton Plainsboro’s Dean of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the inner workings of the hospital are seen through her eyes. This day proves to be especially trying as Cuddy wrestles with myriad hospital issues and staff disputes that test her perseverance and skills as an administrator, all while juggling issues in her personal life, in the all-new “5 to 9” episode of HOUSEHouse reviews airing Monday, Feb. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT)

From her introduction to television as Lisa E on MTV’s “Awake on the Wild SideWild Side reviews” to her role as “Dr. Lisa Cuddy” on HOUSE, Lisa Edelstein is no stranger to fearless roles. In the past several years, Edelstein has portrayed Rob Lowe’s call-girl girlfriend on “The West Wing,” the transsexual boyfriend of James LeGros on “Ally McBealAlly McBeal: Disc 1 reviews,” David Conrad’s lesbian sister on “Relativity,” an Orthodox Jew losing custody of her child on “Family Law” and James Spader’s love interest on “The Practice.”

Additional television credits include her series regular role on “Leap of Faith” and guest turns on “Seinfeld,” “Without a Trace,” “Frasier,” “Felicity” and “ER.” Edelstein also works extensively in the realm of voiceover, most recently as “Mercy Graves” on the animated “Superman” and “Justice League” series as well as guest spots on AMERICAN DAD and KING OF THE HILLKing of the Hill reviews.

In feature films, Edelstein starred as Ben Stiller’s aerobics-obsessed date in “Keeping the Faith.” Additional credits include “What Women Want,” “Daddy Day Care,” “As GoodGood reviews As It Gets” and the comedies “Say Uncle” and “Grilled.” She also starred in the dramatic cable feature “Fathers and Sons.”

Enjoy the interview and don’t forget to check out the clip.

Q- What do you hope that people glean from this episode, aside from Cuddy has a lot on her plate on any given day? What do you hope they take away as far as your character that they might not have picked up on over the past years?

L. Edelstein Well, there’s a lot of things I like about the episode in addition to the fact that you get a real glimpse into what it means to run a hospital. Because sometimes you see complaints that people don’t think that Cuddy’s very good at her job. I don’t really think they know what her job is. Now you get a really clearer view of that.

I like the difference between her relationship with LucasLucas reviews and her relationship with House. I think on one hand you see this kind of uncomplicated ease with this guy who’s just showing up. He shows up. He actually does his best and shows up and wants to be there versus the guy that she had this long, deep, fascinating, back-and-forth with that she can’t seem to steer clear of and what he actually means in her world, how he affects her world. So, I think there’s a lot of levels to it.

Q- The episode hints at the occasional disconnect with Lucas. Do you think if she does end up bailing on that romance it’ll be to go to House or just to not be with Lucas?

L. Edelstein I don’t know, because they don’t tell me. So, I would hate to guess. But, I that think sometimes you just want to be in the relationship that looks good on paper and that is the relationship you think you’re supposed to be in. But, I’m not sure that that really works.

So, when and if that doesn’t work, I guess what you would do is really give it a shot with the thing that excites you most. But that’s going to sound like a spoiler, and it actually isn’t because I haven’t the faintest idea what’s happening.

Q- One of my favorite moments in the “Wilson” episode earlier this year was the scene where Wilson was doing something completely, unrelated to anything that involved House. In the background, you saw the team with the patient on the gurney…

L. Edelstein Right.

Q- It really did impress on me that, “Wow! Wilson really does have a life and career that doesn’t involve House.” How interesting to see that, and again, with you, you get to have those moments, too. Is that really cool and fun and interesting and … for you?

L. Edelstein I think so. I hope the audience thinks so, because again, it is really nice to see, to fill in the blanks, and to make the picture more complete. So that you know when House is causing problems for Cuddy, what the rest of the things on Cuddy’s plate are. When they interrupt something in the hallway to have a debate about a case that has nothing to do with what she’s doing and the rest of her day, how she has to focus and deal with it and resolve it and move on. I mean, I just think it is fun to see that. It is fun to fill in the blanks.

Q- So, a lot of fans have expressed their, I guess, anger or just dislike about the Cuddy-Lucas relationship? What do you think it is that Cuddy sees in Lucas that no one else kind of can …?

L. Edelstein I think he shows up. I think he helps her with her life. He’s uncomplicated, very loyal, and has sex with her. I think that those things mean a lot to somebody who’s got a world like hers, which can be very overwhelming. The question remains, “Is that enough?”

But I think for right now, it’s something she really needed to explore having because she’s been alone for a while, a long time and kind of chasing after a House that was completely unavailable. So, this season, suddenly he turns around and announces he’s available, but it’s years that this has been going on. It’s not so easy.

Q- So, you’ve played this character for a while now. How do you think Cuddy’s changed over the years?

L. Edelstein Well, I don’t think characters change. I think they become more revealed. I don’t think you really can change a character on a show. David Shore was talking about this, as well, a while back, because if you change the character, then the dynamic changes.

I think what happen is in the first season of any episode, as the audience, you’re presented with a vague picture of these people. You, as an audience member, project onto them your idea of who they are and how they fit. As the years go by and the writers get to write more deeply about each individual, they just expose themselves little by little. I don’t mean that in a nude way. Although, actually I do because that’s pretty much what happened with my character. Every season, I become more and more disrobed.

Q- I was wondering if you thought that, this is just your opinion, I know you don’t know about what’s coming up ahead. But, do you think that Cuddy would have settled, well, if settle’s the right word, for the guy she’s with right now if she hadn’t had the child? Do you think he was sort of like …?

L. Edelstein I think that having a child definitely changed her attitude about relationships, absolutely. I think him being in her life is really directly related to that. She really needs somebody she can rely on.

I don’t think anyone can really fully prepare for having a child. I don’t think there’s any way of preparing for what that means to your world. This is a woman who already had a really full world. She needs reliable people in her life.

Q- What was it like in an episode focused on Cuddy?

L. Edelstein It was really exciting. It was exciting because I’ve been working with these people for a very long time and to be given that kind of opportunity was really special. They sent me the script weeks earlier than usual, where I could have notes about dialog, notes about story line; make script suggestions, which is not normal for our process at House. Even during filming, I just felt like I had a lot more power in terms of interacting with the writer and director. I really loved it. Plus, I was there 16 hours a day, which is a lot of hard work. But, it’s really fun to set the pace and the tone of the stage, to be given that opportunity, especially with people that I’ve known for quite some time.

Q- House and Cuddy seem to begin to repair their relationship just a little bit, in “5 to 9”. Is that going to continue to evolve?

L. Edelstein Again, they really don’t tell me what the goal is. But I did really like that and I liked the way it looked next to her relationship with Lucas because there is something very special between House and Cuddy that also is historical and deeply complicated, but has a nice weight to it, which is a very confusing thing to have in your life when you’re trying to do what you think is the right thing on paper.

Q- Do you have any acting plans beyond House? Or, would you like to write or direct an episode like Hugh Laurie has done?

L. Edelstein No, I don’t think I’m going to write or direct an episode. Writing an episode would be an enormous challenge because they work about six months on these cases in trying to find diseases that can be confused for other things that yet you can tell a story with that’s interesting. I mean, it’s a very complicated process. Watching Hugh do the directing, it actually was really a little more inspiring, because I hadn’t really thought about it before. Ultimately, I’m just thinking of things will interest me when House is finally done, which I don’t even know when that is, and in the meantime, just trying to see as much of the world as I possibly can.

Q- Besides seeing the script so early, what surprised you most about this episode when you first read it?

L. Edelstein What surprised me most? That I was in every scene. It never happened to me before on the show. I kind of had an idea of what was happening, so it didn’t take me totally by surprise. They gave me a heads-up. I just didn’t know how they were going to do it.

Q- You took the opportunity to suggest some script changes. What change are you most proud of?

L. Edelstein I don’t know. If I tell you that, then you’ll know what the scene looked like before and it’ll spoil scenes. It was some relationship stuff on both sides, really, Lucas stuff and House stuff. Some were changes and some were just tone, like talking about tone and being able to participate in that process and learn what it is that David had in mind and what he was trying to say. What Tommy had in mind, what he was trying to say. Just kind of have more involvement in their process in allowing my sense of things to have some power, too.

Q- During the filming process during this episode, did you ever think, “Wow! I can relate to Dr. Cuddy in this episode.” Like her life is so busy and it’s such a balancing act?

L. Edelstein Well, absolutely; she’s trying to do everything. I’m just glad there is an episode that shows how much it is she actually has to do, how much is on her plate. Representing single moms, and single working moms and what they do is always nice because they’re unsung heroines.

Q- So, given that House’s pessimistic attitude toward life is such a key element of the show, do you think that the show would still be able to have the same effect if your character and House were in a happy relationship?

L. Edelstein Well, I don’t think just because people are in a relationship that they’re happy. I don’t think relationships necessarily make people happy. You just are happy or you’re not happy. So, I think if they were ever to get together, there would be no loss in the misery level.