Amber Tamblyn on House: "I Annoy Him. I Fascinate Him. House Probably Sees a Little Bit of Himself in Her"
Actress Amber Tamblyn — known as Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital and co-star of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants — made her debut on FOX's House as Martha Masters, a brilliant, by-the-book third-year medical student hired by Cuddy in Thirteen's absence. Premier Guide Miami's Daedrian McNaughton spoke with Tamblyn about working with Hugh Laurie, the real-life best friend who inspired the character, her poetry career, and why she thinks soap operas are the best training ground for young actors.
From the Vault · 2010
This is an archival piece from the Premier Guide Miami collection. The coverage, context, and details reflect the time it was originally published.
Actress Amber Tamblyn — known as Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital and co-star of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants — made her debut on FOX's House as Martha Masters, a brilliant, by-the-book third-year medical student hired by Cuddy in Thirteen's absence. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.
Amber Tamblyn is known to many as Emily Quartermaine on ABC's General Hospital and as co-star of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 1 and 2. She made her debut on FOX's medical drama House as Martha Masters — a play-by-the-book medical student sure to get under House's (Hugh Laurie) skin.
PGM: What was it like working with TV's most obnoxious doctor? Will you annoy him throughout the season?
Amber Tamblyn: It was absolutely delicious. I annoy him. I fascinate him. The two characters both annoy and fascinate each other. House probably even sees a little bit of himself in her — except the opposite. He's usually mean. She's usually overly nice. So both would make for funny television.
On the character's origins: "The part of Martha Masters was originally just an idea. David Shore and Katie Jacobs came to me and said, 'We want to write a character for you.' The character is based on my real-life best friend whose real name is Martha Meredith Masters. She is a med student. She's incredibly brilliant but sometimes very socially awkward. The fact that David Shore has never met the real Martha Meredith Masters and has written this character so perfectly, so much like her, is pretty amazing."
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On what attracted her to House: "The main thing was, of course, Hugh Laurie. I had never seen the show before. My friends went, 'Are you an idiot? It's not a medical show.' I rented a bunch of seasons. I was blown away. You learn about these characters not through long monologues about their back story, but based on how they're tested in their work environment. That's incredibly interesting and very smart writing."
On her poetry career and advice to actors: "The only thing I for sure know I want to do is write a third book. I'm also an author — I write poetry and short story stuff." On advice: "It's a very difficult industry. You need to be ready to be rejected 5,000 times. I often tell people to think about soap operas first — it's one of the best mediums to get your foot in. As long as you don't start having soap opera-ish acting. Getting out of soaps is the hard part, but if I did it, I feel like anybody could do it."
House airs Mondays at 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX.
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