Olivia Wilde

Lore & Background

Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley was part of the new diagnostic team assembled by Dr. Gregory House after his previous team disbanded in the third-season finale. Her nickname came from the episode "The Right Stuff," when she was assigned the number during a competition for her position. The show depicted Thirteen as a secretive character who did not divulge personal information; her surname was not used until the fourth season's penultimate episode "House's Head," nor her given name until the fifth-season episode "Emancipation." Instead, several of her traits were implied before they were depicted as true. In the season four episode "You Don't Want to Know," Thirteen told House that her mother died from Huntington's disease; a test she performed several episodes later confirmed she carried the gene. After hints were given regarding her character's sexuality, Wilde confirmed that her character is indeed bisexual, which was confirmed by Eric Foreman in the episode "Don't Ever Change."

In Their Own Story

Thirteen was reluctant to reveal information about herself and was extremely secretive. During House's new team member selection process in the fourth season, she simply let her fellow applicants refer to her as "Thirteen" rather than her real name, and constantly deflected curious prodding from both House and Amber Volakis about her personal life and past. Amber admitted to feeling threatened by how Thirteen's unusually secretive nature was fascinating to the prying House, who in season seven told Thirteen she had the best "game face" he had ever seen. Thirteen spent the episode "Lockdown" engaged in a game of truth or dare with James Wilson, but at the end it was implied that everything she had said had been a lie. Although his meddling with her personal affairs and insatiable curiosity frustrated Thirteen, House came to respect her as a talented doctor and the two built a relationship of mutual trust and understanding of each other's personalities with occasional shared cynicism or sarcasm. Wilson later stated that House was better with her on his team, saying "He needs someone who doesn't need him. You're the only one he's never really been able to suck into his crazy House vortex. Keeps him grounded, his ego in check."

Reader's Guide

Thirteen had a fifty-percent chance of having inherited Huntington's disease from her mother, but she initially refused to be tested for it because not knowing allowed her to live with hope. In the fourth-season finale, Thirteen took the test and was diagnosed as having the mutated Huntington gene. Shortly after this, she began to display reckless behavior, having casual sex with random women, using drugs, partying late and showing up at the clinic with a hangover. In "Lucky Thirteen," Thirteen said that her Huntington's was more aggressive, greatly decreasing her life expectancy and hastening the onset of symptoms. She later ceased to behave self-destructively after a near-death experience in the episode "Last Resort," wherein she realized her conviction to live, agreeing to participate in a Huntington's disease drug trial and becoming more active in her attempts to prolong her life. When Thirteen briefly returned to consult on a case, House subsequently fired her permanently so that she could focus on being happy with her girlfriend in whatever time she had left rather than worry about work. In the episode "Don't Ever Change," Thirteen's contempt at the idea of being categorized or oversimplified led to both House and Foreman to assume that she was bisexual, although she was surprised and did not respond to either of their comments. Her sexuality remained unclear until the episode "Lucky Thirteen."

Did You Know?

• Thirteen's surname was not used on the show until the fourth season's penultimate episode 'House's Head', nor her given name until the fifth-season episode 'Emancipation'.
• In the episode 'Lockdown', Thirteen engaged in a game of truth or dare with James Wilson, but at the end it was implied that everything she had said had been a lie.
• Thirteen's nickname derived from the episode 'The Right Stuff', when she was assigned the number during a competition for her position at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
• After a near-death experience in the episode 'Last Resort', Thirteen agreed to participate in a Huntington's disease drug trial and became more active in her attempts to prolong her life.
• In 'Don't Ever Change', both House and Foreman assumed Thirteen was bisexual, though she was surprised and did not respond to either of their comments.

Career Breakthrough as Remy 'Thirteen' Hadley

Olivia Wilde portrayed Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, a fictional character on the medical drama *House*. She was part of the new diagnostic team assembled by Dr. Gregory House after the disbanding of his previous team in the third-season finale. The character's nickname derived from the episode "The Right Stuff," when she was assigned the number during a competition for her position at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. The show depicted Thirteen as a secretive character who did not divulge personal information; her surname was not used on the show until the fourth season's penultimate episode "House's Head," nor her given name until the fifth-season episode "Emancipation." Instead, several of the character's traits were implied before they were depicted as true.

The Huntington's Disease Arc

In the season four episode "You Don't Want to Know," Thirteen told House that her mother died from Huntington's disease; a test she performed several episodes later confirmed she carried the gene. Thirteen had a fifty-percent chance of having inherited Huntington's disease from her mother, but she initially refused to be tested for it because not knowing allowed her to live with hope. In the fourth-season finale, Thirteen took the test and was diagnosed as having the mutated Huntington gene. Shortly after this, she began to display reckless behavior, having casual sex with random women, using drugs, partying late and showing up at the clinic with a hangover. In "Lucky Thirteen," Thirteen said that her Huntington's was more aggressive, greatly decreasing her life expectancy and hastening the onset of symptoms. She later ceased to behave self-destructively after a near-death experience in the episode "Last Resort," wherein she realized her conviction to live, agreeing to participate in a Huntington's disease drug trial and becoming more active in her attempts to prolong her life. When Thirteen briefly returned to consult on a case, House subsequently fired her permanently so that she could focus on being happy with her girlfriend in whatever time she had left rather than worry about work.

Exploration of Bisexuality and Identity

After hints were given regarding her character's sexuality, Wilde confirmed that her character is indeed bisexual. This was confirmed by Eric Foreman in the episode "Don't Ever Change." In that episode, Thirteen's contempt at the idea of being categorized or oversimplified led to both House and Foreman to assume that she was bisexual, although she was surprised and did not respond to either of their comments. Her sexuality, often the butt of House's jokes and sexual innuendos, remained unclear until the episode "Lucky Thirteen." She became more open and blatant about her sexuality as the series progressed and her relationship with her colleagues grew, going as far to propose the idea that she might drunkenly make out with a stripper in order to gain an invite to Chase's bachelor party. In her game of truth or dare with Wilson, she initially stated that her father is supportive of her sexuality, although she later corrected this, saying he is in fact unaware and she never came out to him. She also told Wilson that she has never been in a threesome. She later stated that she may have participated in a foursome, thereby allowing her to truthfully answer "no" to the question about a threesome. However, at the end of the game, it was implied that nothing she had told him had been truthful, leaving her status with her father a mystery.

Psychological Complexity and Relationships

Thirteen is reluctant to reveal information about herself and is extremely secretive. During House's new team member selection process in the fourth season, she simply let her fellow applicants refer to her as "Thirteen" rather than her real name, and constantly deflected curious prodding from both House and Amber Volakis about her personal life and past. Amber admitted to feeling threatened by how Thirteen's unusually secretive nature was fascinating to the prying House, who in season seven told Thirteen she has the best "game face" he has ever seen. Thirteen spent the episode "Lockdown" engaged in a game of truth or dare with James Wilson, but at the end it is implied that everything she has said has been a lie. Although his meddling with her personal affairs and insatiable curiosity frustrates Thirteen, House comes to respect her as a talented doctor and the two build a relationship of mutual trust and understanding of each other's personalities with occasional shared cynicism or sarcasm. Wilson later states that House is better with her on his team, saying "He needs someone who doesn't need him. You're the only one he's never really been able to suck into his crazy House vortex. Keeps him grounded, his ego in check." Both Thirteen and House are equally critical and understanding of each other's self-pity and fatalism in the face of miserable circumstances. Although she believes in the importance of hope, Thirteen says in "Changes" that she believes that people are intrinsically happy or miserable, and that this cannot be changed. House states that this is her defense mechanism, because if she can convince herself that she would have been miserable either way, she does not need to resent the fact that her life is full of misfortune rather than fortune. Thirteen retorts that House's life is similarly miserable and that "lotteries are stupid."