Oooh I think that's a great question Boffle! I don't think you killed the thread...maybe people just spent this beautiful Sunday...well...beautiful here anyway...catching up on other stuff. :) (And those pictures of Hugh and his great great uncle are very cool.) I think what makes Hugh's acting so special is how quiet it is. Does that make any sense? Like when House is feeling intense pain...physically or emotionally...he often doesn't have any lines. It's just his face...a little grimace and then those eyes do all the talking like you said. I'm not a House/Cameron shipper but for example when she's taking care of his cuts in MLC she tells him to stop the Tritter thing. He doesn't say anything but just the way he looks back at her is about the most heart-wrenching thing ever. It's a really quiet scene but it's so moving and there are about 8 million of them so sorry if I picked one from an episode that a lot of people didn't like last year. Even some of his best comic stuff is quiet...like the face he made when he had the bet with Cuddy that he could diagnose clinic patients without touching them and then he walked into a room with a beautiful woman. That was hysterical...and he didn't need any lines. Oh crap that was from One Day One Room wasn't it? Nobody seemed to like that one either. I'm not making a very good case for my points here so I'm gonna stop!! But those kinds of scenes are what I mean by his acting being so quiet. Certainly he was fantastic in things like Blackadder and J&W where his characters were more bumbly and he had to be talky and deliver his lines with a lot of gusto in some cases...and I don't wanna take anything away from that. But as a fantastic dramatic actor...or as an actor who balances the comedy and drama as much as he has to in House...I think it's the quiet moments that stand out.

Boffle and hughsblues - excellent thoughts about what makes Hugh special. hughsblues - I love those quiet moments too. He's so brilliant, he doesn't need dialogue. I always think about his first scenes in Skin Deep and Who's Your Daddy?, and his last scene in Honeymoon. He plays pain like nobody else. Period. Two scenes where his face and his eyes speak volumes, both Stacy related - the one with Stacy in his office at the end of Honeymoon, after she tells him he'll always be the one, but can never be the one, and then kisses him. And then the scene on the rooftop in Need To Know when he realizes she isn't going to leave Mark and at least half a dozen expressions cross his face without him saying a word. Utterly and simply amazing. hughsblues - I did like MLC! I know it had a lot of angst, and wasn't everyone's favorite, but the scene with Cameron in his apartment (and I'm not a Cameron fan) is one of my favorites. He perfectly captured someone going through the hell of withdrawal in that scene. OD,OR - well, not one of my favorites, but I did love all the clinic stuff, and I love the expression on his face when he closes that clinic exam room door and knows he's going to be paying Cuddy $10! Anyway, the way he plays just those quiet moments alone should be more than enough for him to have three Emmys on his mantle - but I'll leave that subject for the bitterness thread!

Oooh I think that's a great question Boffle! I don't think you killed the thread...maybe people just spent this beautiful Sunday... I'm guessing that, since we're all the same folks that were in the other thread, anything that could be said about it probably already was. Not that we aren't known to rehash the same things over and over, but there aren't that many ways to reformat that conversation. Two scenes where his face and his eyes speak volumes, both Stacy related - the one with Stacy in his office at the end of Honeymoon, after she tells him he'll always be the one, but can never be the one, and then kisses him. And then the scene on the rooftop in Need To Know when he realizes she isn't going to leave Mark and at least half a dozen expressions cross his face without him saying a word. Utterly and simply amazing. That second one is one of my favorite scenes of the entire series. As he realizes what's going on...that's just beautiful acting. And *impressive* acting. It always amazes me when someone can say that much in such a short time with no words at all.

Two scenes where his face and his eyes speak volumes, both Stacy related - the one with Stacy in his office at the end of Honeymoon, after she tells him he'll always be the one, but can never be the one, and then kisses him. And then the scene on the rooftop in Need To Know when he realizes she isn't going to leave Mark and at least half a dozen expressions cross his face without him saying a word. Utterly and simply amazing. I hear on ya on these iamdaffodils...definitely. I love the way he closes his eyes after Stacy kisses his cheek. It's so sad! But the scene where it clicks that Stacy's not coming clean with Mark...like amysusanne said...impressive. I'm guessing that, since we're all the same folks that were in the other thread, anything that could be said about it probably already was. Not that we aren't known to rehash the same things over and over, but there aren't that many ways to reformat that conversation. Ok you're right about that. That is probably more likely than the beautiful day. We need something new...did you know that Hugh's hair is thinning?? Ooh! RSL said he was HL's only friend in an interview...let's talk about whether or not Hugh's lonely in LA! *G* (I'm not even trying to be a smartass amysusanne...I'm actually this unfunny...) But seriously...I got nothing new.

Ooh! RSL said he was HL's only friend in an interview... I noticed that too. I hope it isn't true. He's been in LA for more than 3 years now, and I would hope that he has more than one friend there. It does seem that he has lots of friends back home, many of them people he has known for 20 years and more. Matter of fact, most of his friends that I've heard of, for what that's worth, seem to go way back in his life.

(I'm not even trying to be a smartass amysusanne...I'm actually this unfunny...) Wait...does that mean that all this time I've been laughing *at* you and not with you? My gosh, I need to reevaluate our entire relationship!!!{g} I noticed that too. I hope it isn't true. He's been in LA for more than 3 years now, and I would hope that he has more than one friend there. It does seem that he has lots of friends back home, many of them people he has known for 20 years and more. Matter of fact, most of his friends that I've heard of, for what that's worth, seem to go way back in his life. I thought that RSL said that Hugh was *his* only friend in LA. I should listen more carefully, I guess. I do love that they continue to try to outdo one another in the anti-social department, but Hugh has at least stopped telling the world he has no friends and just tells the world that he never goes out in public. Either way, we know good and well that Hugh has friends. What he chooses to do with those friends is his problem, but we know that he and Greg and Jamie are good friends and all three have pointed that out at various points. We know that he and David Shore are good friends. They're just all family guys who don't go out to clubs every night to prove to the paparazzi that they're friends. I would hope that they all have plenty of friends that we know nothing about since it's none of our business, but as far as all the guys who are in the public eye, if they say they're all good friends, I believe them.

anything that could be said about it probably already was. Oh, I don't know about that. I think hughsblues and iamdaffodils made comments I enjoyed reading. Similar things may have been said elsewhere, but it's always interesting to add more depth and insight to the ongoing conversation. If we were never going to repeat anything, there wouldn't be a whole lot of content around here. ;-) Personally, though I do think HL's hot, I'd rather discuss his acting, writing, singing and his other achievements (most of the time, anyway). That said, hughsblues, I loved HL's performance in MLC and to a lesser extent OD/OR (Hugh's acting yes, the PoTW, not so much): he does indeed have the depth in those quiet moments and communicates so much information through how he shows what he is thinking and feeling. It really is impressive and makes the character so much more sympathetic with no need for exposition or pushing forward plot points. You just see who he really is. I'm just hoping the writers don't take that as a given and stop showing us those brief glimpses into his soul. Oh and yes, iamaffodils, that scene when he realizes what Stacy is up to, he goes through the process of disillusionment with who she is and starts to realize the anguish that after all this, it's not going to work: an amazing scene on first viewing or fifteenth! If we have something new to talk about that's great, but revisiting why the whole thing works, what is so special that we are all so drawn into his world, what makes the character so riveting that we want to keep the whole complicated, insufferable, inexplicted character around: those are things that may take a bit more thought, but certainly have the capacity of being interesting to talk about. Consider it a challenge!

Either way, we know good and well that Hugh has friends. What he chooses to do with those friends is his problem, but we know that he and Greg and Jamie are good friends and all three have pointed that out at various points. We know that he and David Shore are good friends. They're just all family guys who don't go out to clubs every night to prove to the paparazzi that they're friends. I would hope that they all have plenty of friends that we know nothing about since it's none of our business, but as far as all the guys who are in the public eye, if they say they're all good friends, I believe them. I think you have hit the nail on the head, yet again, anysusanne. He seems to be the kind of person who makes a few good friends who enjoy the same things that he does (music, cars, acting) and hangs with them. He doesn't seem to have the need to rub shoulders with everyone in the business. I think that is why he is so normal.

Yes, in total agreement on his quietness/greatness thing. One of my favs is when he's gripping the post of the bookshelf in S3, and he's in a lot of pain, and then he lashes out about how "Yes, she's cute! cute little girls shouldn't have to be sick! We should cure her with puppies and sunshine" speech. I can just watch that over and over. Like Katie said, you can never get too close to his face. And I noticed with the new season they get some even closer shots of him. No complaints here. And he's wearing some even cooler t shirts. Am jealous :)

Oh, on the closeups thing: it's not just House. Just looked at the screencaps for All or Nothing at All and then saw a bit of 101 Dalmations and they both went in just as close: in 101D they go in on him as he's starting to snarl about catching puppies: maybe that's where the whole puppy-hating came from ;-)

Oh, I don't know about that. I think hughsblues and iamdaffodils made comments I enjoyed reading.Similar things may have been said elsewhere, but it's always interesting to add more depth and insight to the ongoing conversation. If we were never going to repeat anything, there wouldn't be a whole lot of content around here. Of course we're going to repeat things. Over and over and over again. If you'll reread what I said you'll see that I wasn't referring to the current conversation (which I contributed to, so clearly I have no problem discussing it for the 57,000th time), I was referring to why you didn't get any bites on your post about Hugh's relative. I wasn't insulting you, I thought that I was reassuring you by pointing out that you probably *weren't* being ignored, people just didn't have anything to say. You seemed surprised enough that people didn't jump right on that post that you edited your post to comment on it and wondered if you'd "broken" the board. The most likely reason that you didn't get any hits on that post was the fact that you'd already posted it at "the other place" and we're, basically, all the same people that were there before. There aren't a lot of things to say about it that people didn't say the first time. There are a million things that you can say about his *acting* that, if it's said before, might not have been said in quite the same way. There are plenty of things to bring to the table that might not have been expressed in quite the same way. People have new ideas and see new things. There isn't much new to see or say about a picture of Hugh's ancestor. Personally, though I do think HL's hot, I'd rather discuss his acting, writing, singing and his other achievements (most of the time, anyway). Ditto. If we have something new to talk about that's great, but revisiting why the whole thing works, what is so special that we are all so drawn into his world, what makes the character so riveting that we want to keep the whole complicated, insufferable, inexplicted character around: those are things that may take a bit more thought, but certainly have the capacity of being interesting to talk about. Consider it a challenge! Again, I didn't come anywhere close to implying that we shouldn't "revisit" ourselves. You edited your post to comment on the fact that no one had responded to you which I clearly erroneously assumed meant that you were actually wondering why no one responded to you. Given how much I, myself, choose to comment on things that we've already discussed many, many times I would hope that people would not assume that I had a problem with such things. And I *certainly* would not have insulted either hughsblues or iamdaffodils by saying such a thing after they had already posted their comments.

I think one of the most impressive aspects of Hugh's acting is his ability to listen to the actor opposite him with a fierce and entrancing intensity. He has had this skill for decades and the otherwise light-weight Stuart Little movies demonstrate this ability to a high degree. Hugh listens with the movements of his eyes which rake over the other's face and with the movement of his body, especially his shoulders and head. Hugh bends his head toward the other actor, cants his shoulders and hips in that direction and really listens with his whole being. He never seems to be looking through the other person when he is talking with RSL or Lisa, searching for the next line, or ticking off the gestures needed to reach the end of the scene. Any scene with either of those two is pure gold. To the scenes with Stacy already cited I would add the wonderful one in her office ("Hunting" I believe) when she soothes House's bruised lip with an ice cube. Or how about the corridor scene toward the end of "The Mistake" when Stacy acknowledges her renewed love for House. Both actors deliver such power and pathos through the silent use of their eyes. I watch these episodes over and over again. Watching a lesser actor, who quickly can fall out of the moment, you are continually reminded of how stunning Hugh's achievement is. And he does it for more than 30 minutes of each episode, 24 times a season.

ETA #2: Have I killed this thread? Yikes, it's been quiet here! I know how you feel. It's easy to feel ignored in cyberspace. I had a similar experience in that other place that is not named when I posted a link to HL in "Fortysomething" in the buff that I felt would be appreciated but was never acknowledged. I don't know why, but it did bother me. Human connection matters.

Yes, he's a great listener, but beyond that, he brings enormous energy to the part, even when he's portraying House as exhausted, unmoving, spent. It's a total commitment to the character that makes you unable to take your eyes off him. I can't imagine HL ever phoning it in.