Sela Ward brings heart to House
Bridget Byrne

LOS ANGELES - Sela Ward has won two Emmys for playing heartfelt roles on relationship shows. So what’s the star of the emotional family dramas “Sisters” and “Once and Again” doing on the cynical medical drama “House”? She’s guest-starring on seven episodes as Dr. Stacy Warner, who reveals a possible chink in the acerbic armour of Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant diagnostician with an appalling bedside manner.
“I think Stacy is like a window into him, his vulnerability, his heart, because he does have one somewhere,” Ward says, discussing her appearance in nine episodes of the hit series. “The show is not about his personal life,” says series creator and executive producer David Shore, “but you get curious about that, so we wanted to get a greater glimpse into who this guy was. It’s really tricky to find someone to play opposite him, to stand up to him, somebody that you would believe this sort of character would be interested in, and would be interested in this character.”
Shore says Ward “does that emotional stuff really well. She’s just plays it in a simple way, in a convincing way. Without turning things into melodrama, she sucks you in and makes you want to cry for her.” “I loved the challenge of doing something I had never done,” says Ward. “I’d never done a medical show, a procedural show. ... There is not much time to really delve into the emotions. It’s very quick-paced and clipped. It’s not about sitting on a sofa and talking about how we’re feeling.”