Hugh Laurie: I'm Done With TV After House

When House eventually wraps its run, it won't just be the end of a long-running series, it will be the end of a 30-year TV career.

Star Hugh Laurie tells Scotland's The Daily Record that he plans to leave television acting when House concludes. "I think I have been rather spoiled here," the 52-year-old actor told the newspaper. "I can't imagine there will be another one quite like this. ... I wouldn't go looking for lightning to strike twice."

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Laurie's small screen career dates back to the 1982 British sketch special The Cellar Tapes. He went on to star in several other sketch series in the United Kingdom, including A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster, each of which ran for four seasons. The 2012 Guinness Book of World Records lists Laurie as the highest paid actor in a TV drama and also the most-watched leading man on television.

A two-time Golden Globe winner, Laurie said he thinks he is "no longer a desirable commodity for TV," but said he would be open to doing work behind the camera. Laurie directed an episode of House in 2010. "I think I will probably be as interested by either writing or producing or directing, or some other aspect. I find the whole field of it fascinating," he says, noting that he's gained new confidence over his eight-year (and counting) run on House. "That's a huge amount of experience and that sort of experience gives you a confidence in a way. I think that I have a confidence that I might not have had."

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Laurie, who released his first music album earlier this year and plays in the group Band From TV, said he hopes to work more on his music. "My big source of solace and comfort is music. If the record company is up for it, I certainly am up for doing a second album," he says. "I'd jump for it like a shot."

Do you think Laurie should leave TV after House?