One word helped Hugh Laurie switch between British and American accents [Exclusive]

Hugh Laurie played an American doctor in "House M.D." (although one brilliant scene had him faking a British accent on the phone). I mentioned to Laurie that I didn't realize he was British at the time, because he was so good with the accent. But "Avenue 5" offered a new challenge.

Laurie said it was harder to change accents on "Avenue 5" than when working on "House M.D." In this series, he would start doing the accent the second he walked into the studio to avoid slipping up. "From then on, for the next 14 hours, in my head, I don't know if it sounded like that to everyone, but in my head, I was American. I didn't come out of it. ." But that's not really possible on "Avenue 5". Laurie explained:

"But being in 'Avenue 5' where, well, first of all, the pace of production is so different, and the speed, the back and forth of different characters cannonading each other into others means a kind of...yes, he needs a kind of mental agility that, frankly, I don't think I ever had in the first place. Never mind having it now."

On top of that, he works closely in many scenes with Lenora Crichlow, who is also British but does an American accent for her character. There are also a variety of accents around him at any given time. Laurie never slips for a second, which is a marvel. So how does he do it?