He’s been playing a doctor on TV’s House for years, which has reduced his availability for film roles to largely supporting parts, but it appears Hugh Laurie just might be heading to leading man territory for dark indie comedy Oranges.
The LA Times’ 24 Frames blog reports that Laurie is in serious discussions to play the lead, an older man who has an affair with the daughter of a family friend.
If he signs, we could see him acting opposite the likes of **Book Of Eli'**s Mila Kunis (herself no stranger to TV roles) and **Gossip Girl’**s Leighton Meester, though none of the roles have been officially cast yet and there's no director attached.
The script is by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, and was good enough to earn itself a place on the 2008 Black List of best unproduced work (to give some context, that year’s rankings also featured Inglorious Basterds and the upcoming Mel Gibson/Jodie Foster comedy The Beaver).
We have to chuckle, however, at the claim that Laurie has never played a leading man on the big screen before. Did no one see Maybe Baby? Oh, right… Maybe this would be a good thing – assuming he’s not too knackered to film a bigger, more challenging role between House seasons.