At barely 62 years old, the legendary actor is unrecognizable

Hugh Laurie, who played the role of House’s most renowned doctor, admitted that he feels like a fraud despite earning $700,000 per episode in the show’s last season.

Laurie expressed regret for acting out “a fake version” of a doctor rather than following his father’s dream of becoming a real doctor and acknowledged that his father would have despised the expedited path he took.

What led Laurie to choose acting over medicine? Read on to find out.

Hugh Laurie, the youngest son of Dr. William (Ran) Laurie, was born in June 1959, and his father had great expectations for him.

The junior Laurie was continuing a long line of distinguished family members: his father was a doctor who had won the Olympic gold medal in coxless pairs rowing in 1948 and had graduated from a Cambridge University institution.

Laurie was born in Britain and attended the same university as his father, who was also an athlete who aspired to row in the Olympics before pursuing medical studies.

However, things took a turn when the young guy stumbled into a theatrical club—specifically, a sketch comedy team known as the Cambridge Footlights—where he crossed paths with Emma Thompson, who had acted in The Remains of the Day, and Stephen Fry, who had played a supporting role in the 1997 film Wilde.