British actor Hugh Laurie is racked with guilt for failing to follow his father into the medical profession and fears his dad would have been disappointed to see him playing a doctor on TV. The Blackadder actor stars as grumpy physician Dr Gregory House in hit U.S. drama House, a role which has won him a clutch of awards including two Golden Globes.

Laurie admits his late doctor father, Ran, always wanted him to go to medical school and become a doctor for real but he opted out and chose acting instead - and he's convinced his dad would have "hated" to see him take "shortcuts".

He tells Britain's Daily Express, "I would have liked to have become a doctor myself and I still have doctor fantasies. We live in a world of shortcuts don't we? And I took them. Dad would have hated that. My father had high hopes for me following him into medicine. I wanted to and was going to choose the right subjects at school but in the end I copped out. Medicine is awfully hard work and you have to be rather clever to pass the exams. Seriously, this is a source of great guilt to me." (LR/WNTEX/ZN)

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