So last night my long awaited episode of “House” aired, and it was so exciting!  It’s so great to have so many tells and emails and Twitters from people who recorded the show and planned to watch, AND the ones who were caught completely off-guard.  Such a treat! 🙂  I love doing my web shows, but there’s something about being on a fancy network TV show that the family eats up:  My parents were impressed 🙂

I wanted to take a few moments to answer a few Tweet questions that people had about working on House.  There may be spoilers (If you haven’t already seen it).

How was working with Hugh Laurie?

In my experience, the most talented actors I’ve worked with are also the most professional and Hugh Laurie was no exception.  His commitment to his character is absolute, and there’s just no catching him acting: He IS the character.  Off-set he is charming and lovely, and incredibly humble.  It was such a treat to be able to act opposite him.  And yes, his eyes are that blue 🙂  Hard not to crush on him, admittedly, lol.

Did you shave your head?

Nope.  Movie magic!  I spent 3 hours in makeup getting a bald cap put on, Dahlia the makeup lady took great care of me.  It definitely gave me a stiff neck though, because you can’t twist your head that much or the bald cap will pop up.   Being stuck in the brain surgery device was uncomfortable and hard to crawl into as well.  Also I forgot to shave my legs that day of shooting, so I was worried it would show up in HD.  Luckily during my brain surgery there were no cutaways to my calves.  A glimpse into the vanity of actors.  LOL!

Did they really open your brain?

No one asked that really, haha, but I wanted to share how they did that.  I actually went in a week early to an FX shop where they had masks of EVERY celebrity known to man lined up high on the wall:  Deniro, Cruise, Kidman, Clooney, you name it, their face was in plaster looking down on me.  They had to match the shape of my skull, so the molded my hair to my head, put a cap on me, and poured plaster all over my skull and face.  It was actually pretty scary, getting cold goo spread over my nose, but I was doing a meditation exercise and got through it ok.  Then on set, they had the top of my skull perfectly matched!  And brain.  I didn’t see the brain part on set, it was gross to watch hah.  As for my corneal transplant, again I had to go in and get fitted with it. The contact itself actually had a perscription in it, so it was blurry to look out of.  I had an eyeball handler follow me around all day putting special drops in my eye so it wouldn’t irritate me.  They took good care of me 🙂

Will you return?

Sadly no.  I was just the POTW (Patient of the Week).  I was on the set for a while, 10 days or something, since we shot over Memorial Day, longest Guest Star in history! 🙂  It was such a nice set.  When you get to know everyone on a TV set as a co-star or guest star and then leave, gone forever, it’s kinda sad.  Most times you’re only acting on one episode the series regulars are a bit standoffish, because you’re really only there a few days.  This set really made me feel like I was part of the team, and it was a wonderful feeling.

If you have any other questions post them in comments and I’ll add to this post over the next few days! 🙂

ADDED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

How was the table read?

Table reads are always very nerve wracking for actors, unless you’re a regular, because people get fired at them.  They don’t feel like it’s working, they write the part out of the episode (Happened to me both ways) so you feel like you’re auditioning again. However, House was a very friendly environment, and I sat across from Hugh, so it was nice to formulate that connection with his character outside the actual hospital set.

Was your character really named Apple?  Was the character a math teacher in the script?  Did you audition?

Yes to both questions, it was in the script!  The math teacher role was quite a coincidence!  There was a bit at the top of the show where I actually wrote down a math equation (which I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD! 🙂 ) and was teaching the class, but they had to cut that for time I suppose.  The show opening was very cool, I had no idea they dropped that truckload like that!  Cool!  And yes, I was a blind architect.  Mmm, I guess it could happen? LOL.  Yes, I auditioned for the part through my agent.  I’ve read for House almost 10 times in the last 5 years, it’s lovely that I got a role, and such a good one at that!  I’m sure they read a lot of people.  Getting jobs in Hollywood is very difficult: It’s about access and timing and looks.  In that order, haha.

Did they make you look sick?

Well, they allowed no makeup on the patients, that was a trauma I had to get over, haha. I did notice the lighting accentuated my sickness, especially in the puking scene (pineapple juice and chunks, I swear!)  Puking to millions of people was awkward, but you do what the character needs to!  I think I got the direction “less heaving” once, that was weird.

RE:  Last moment with House “You look sad.”:

Yes, doing that line always gave me chills, and when I got to deliver them to House, it was a great acting moment.  It was like playing a harp, the dialogue I got as Apple was beautiful and it was a privilege to say those words.

TV shows I’d love to appear in:

Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, 30 Rock, Eureka, Heroes, Bones, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, anything Sci-Fi 🙂  I love doing comedy the most, I can’t take myself too seriously and get nervous if I’m supposed to be authoritative.  I’m working on that 🙂

OFF TOPIC:  The font is Blackjack.  I got it off a free font place, check my delicious.com/feliciaday bookmarks for font sites I frequent.

Did you watch House before?

On and off.  I’m very bad about my TV habits, but try to watch each show a few times (in case I get called in to read for it, you gotta know the style of the show!)  I did feel that this part had a deeper connection to House than others I’d seen.  I actually auditioned for the part from the premiere but didn’t get it.  Thank goodness they called me back the next episode!

Was anyone excited about my work on The Guild?

Actually, a few crew members were!  They came up and recognized me!  For the most part people don’t randomly know about the show, on set or in life.  It’s hard to realize that most people are kind of out of touch with the internet (or rather, their life doesn’t revolve around it like mine 🙂 )  I did give bookmarks to the director and the writer, and they watched it and said they liked it!

Did Hugh keep his American accent?  How was Olivia?

Yes, and lovely!  I couldn’t stop staring at her, she’s beautiful!