Lisa Edelstein finds her home on “House”

“Playing Doctor” – After a long TV journey, Lisa Edelstein finds her home on ‘House.’
By Jenelle Riley, BackStage.com

Though Lisa Edelstein wrapped her sixth season on the hit drama “House” with perhaps her biggest storyline yet—embarking on a romance with the dyspeptic doc—things could have gone very differently for the actor. Rather than commanding the halls of Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital as Dean of Medicine Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Edelstein almost wound up on Wisteria Lane when she auditioned for the role of Lynette on “Desperate Housewives,” a part that eventually went to Felicity Huffman. The producers were making the offer to Huffman when Edelstein came in for her final test. “It was a bit embarrassing,” says Edelstein. “They didn’t know someone had let me in, and I literally walked in and they were on the phone talking numbers.” She notes the people at “Housewives” were wonderfully supportive and there were no hard feelings. She landed “House” a week later.

Having been through 15 prior pilot seasons, Edelstein felt she had a good sense for what shows would succeed. “You develop a skill for recognizing three things: something you like on the page, something you think you’d like on the page six years from now, should it be successful, and something you think is written well enough to become that show,” she says. But she also knows not to set her expectations too high. “It’s always a gamble,” she admits. “You have to look at it in the long term but assume the short term.”

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