【2013 Archives】

LOS ANGELES -- Dr. House013 Archives from long-running Fox series House,and Dr. Chance, from Hulu's new series Chance, have three things in common.

First, Hugh Laurie plays both characters. Second, their last names are one syllable. And lastly: They are doctors. Other than that, Laurie said there's really nothing else to compare.

"Dr. Chance is so different," Laurie told Mashableat the show's premiere on Monday.

The 10-episode Hulu show -- which launched Wednesday -- is an adaptation of Kem Nunn's novel, who created the series alongside Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives). It follows Dr. Eldon Chance (Laurie), a forensic neuropsychiatrist who gets sucked into a violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness.

"I was fascinated by the workings of the human mind and how we define consciousness and identity and who we really are, and how fragile that identity is," Laurie said. "One slip and your whole life -- not just your whole life but your actual personality -- is turned upside down."

The actor recently had roles in AMC's The Night Manager andHBO's Veep, but the Hulu psychological thriller marks his return as a lead on a TV show. Laurie was the first one attached to the project.

"Without Hugh, there really would be no show," Cunningham said. "Everything about him says intelligence and dignity and class. All of the elements the character in the book has. It's impossible to see the show without him."

Lenny Abrahamson (Room) signed on as an executive producer, alongside Laurie, Michael London and Brian Grazer. Abrahamson also directed the pilot.

Then came a strong ensemble made-up of Gretchen Mol, LisaGay Hamilton, Paul Adelstein, Ethan Suplee and Stefania LaVie Owen.

Still, adapting a book is not an easy feat.

"So much of the book takes place inside one guy's head so the challenge was to get it up on its feet, and make it available to an audience," Nunn told Mashable. "Alex had a wonderful vision for how to break the book up, how to make it available in this 10-episode format. We really sort of followed her lead in breaking that out, stepping away from it where we had to but being faithful to spirit of the book."

Though Laurie has played a doctor before, stepping into Dr. Chance's shoes still required research.

"I spent some time with neuropsychiatrists in London and here [in L.A] -- it was a subject I was already interested in," he said. "I tried as far as I could to understand what it would be like to deal with people whose lives have been so radically altered not by an assault on their physical body but their actual identity and their perception and cognition."

The many faces of Hugh Laurie @ChanceOnHulu #ChanceOnHulu pic.twitter.com/TqxIhr8yBI

— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) October 18, 2016

In real life, Laurie doesn't think he would be able to tackle the neuropsychiatrist job.

"I don't honestly know how people do it," he said. "Because you are dealing with such terrible damage, such terrible unhappiness. It takes a very strong soul to withstand that. Much stronger than I am but, anyway, I can fake it."

Episodes of Chancewill continue to roll out on Hulu every week, and the company has already ordered a second season.

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})