Thirteen (House) - Concept and Creation

Concept and Creation

""Thirteen" is hidden, and hasn't yet revealed very much about herself. She doesn't really want to look into the future, and House finds that enormously compelling".

Along with fellow actors Peter Jacobson (Taub), Kal Penn (Kutner), and Anne Dudek (Amber Volakis), Wilde did not know which character would be cut until the actors were given the scripts. Producers watched to see how the actors developed their characters and interacted. Wilde thought this technique improved the acting during the "Games" story arc. However, the story arc inspired a spirit of camaraderie between the actors instead of competition, due to the high-profile roles. While Thirteen's name was originally intended to be revealed during the story arc, the production team decided against doing so. Thirteen's actual name was replaced on all documents, including the call sheets, with the word "Thirteen" to further the in-joke in the show's narrative. Wilde describes her character as a "big bowl of secrets" in stark comparison to her own openness.

Thirteen's sexuality was initially written ambiguously: Foreman and House suggested she is bisexual. In response to the ambiguity, Wilde confirmed in July 2008 that her character is bisexual, the second time she has played a bisexual character (the first being on The O.C. as Alex Kelly). Thirteen has been compared, sometimes negatively, with Allison Cameron, the previous female diagnostician. Wilde described Thirteen as "almost the opposite" of Cameron, who is "compassionate and emotional", and attributed the comparisons to the similarity in the tasks that House delegates to both characters, and that "with two girls on a show, people are always going to compare them. Thirteen resists handing her trust to people, and has proven herself to be a rather difficult person."