The 1993 dream role Hugh Laurie was forced to abandon 23 years later: “It was a little bit painful”
From his early collaborations with best bud Stephen Fry to his world-conquering role as Dr Gregory ‘it’s lupus’ House, Hugh Laurie has come a long way since a guest appearance on The Young Ones in 1984.
These days, he’s a respected actor, a cherished comedian, an accomplished musician, and an all-round national treasure, and considering he only got into performing after an illness forced him to abandon a career in rowing, that’s not bad going.
In 2016, Laurie stepped into the shoes of another iconic character for the BBC’s adaptation of the John le Carré novel, The Night Manager, which pits a hotel manager and former soldier recruited by the Foreign Office to bring down an arms dealer. Laurie plays Richard Roper, the arms dealer, a powerful and sinister individual, for which he was nominated for a number of major awards and even scooped a Golden Globe for ‘Best Supporting Actor – Series, Limited Series or Television Film’.
This was something of a dream role for the Englishman, who grew up as a massive fan of le Carré’s work, but it was also bittersweet as he initially saw himself playing Jonathan Pine, the hero of the piece. “He’s a sort of medieval knight who’s looking for a cause,” he explained to Junkee, “Who’s looking for something he can sacrifice himself for. He’s like a Rōnin”.
Laurie had initially wanted to play Pine in the 1990s, but found that the rights belonged to Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack, and it wasn’t until Pollack’s death in 2008 that the book became fair game once more. Unfortunately, by that point in time, Laurie was too old to play Pine, which instead went to Tom Hiddleston, while the former was cast as the older, more rugged Roper.
“It was a little bit painful,” Laurie lamented, “To see this young, handsome, strapping fellow… But that’s an element of the story. Roper is the old lion, both attracted to and angered by this younger generation who is coming up and is one day going to take his place.”
Unfortunately for Laurie’s ego, Hiddleston was excellent in The Night Manager, nailing Pine’s combination of suave glamour and explosive brutality, which le Carré designed to show the contrast between the way the rest of the world saw the UK and the reality of actually living in the country.
Hiddleston, Laurie, and Olivia Colman formed the core of the drama, and each of them elevated the others to some of the finest performances of their careers. The Loki star also picked up a Golden Globe for ‘Best Actor – Limited Series or Television Film’ and was asked to return to the show when it re-emerged for its second season in 2026.
The Night Manager was so well cast that it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the main roles, as they exist. If it had been made in the ’90s with Laurie as Pine, it almost certainly wouldn’t have been as good as it was in 2016, because the actor plays the older villain so well, but I believe that he could have whipped himself into “strapping” shape if the occasion called for it.
