The Rules According to Lisa Edelstein

Adapted from "The Rules According to Lisa" (More Magazine February 2008 issue).

(Photo Credit: tv.yahoo.com)

Lisa Edelstein, aka Dr. Lisa Cuddy on "House", has craved the spotlight since she was three. "I did everything I could to make people stare at me," she says. As a teenager, she nabbed notoriety as Lisa E., a fixture on the New York club scene; at 23, she wrote and performed in a musical about AIDS. At 41, she loves slipping into Dr. Cuddy's Louboutin heels, even if she rues her character's love life: "I imagined the she was desperately trying Internet dating, but that didn't pan out."

Here's, Edelstein's prescription for life:

1. Sometimes Bad Hair Pays Off
"I hosted a horrible show on MTV in 1990. Four hours a day, five days a week of national humiliation--bad hair, bad makeup, terrible clothes and horrible writing. But I was in front of the camera, I learned a lot, and I got a very good agent out of it."

2. Enjoy the Limelight--It'll Move in a Minute
"When you're on a hit show, suddenly you're prettier, more interesting, more charming, a better conversationalist. I'm having a fantastic time. The hard part is knowing that nothing lasts forever."

3. Get Cozy with "Maybe"
"I'd love to find a man I could form a great partnership with. Maybe have a kid, although at this age, it may not happen. But adoption could happen. I have to be OK with that either way."

4. Remember, the Pie Keeps Getting Bigger
"When I started out in the business, you were considered ethnic if you had brown hair. It has improved a good deal--it's more diverse, there are many more networks, and women in their forties work all the time."

5. Stage Your Own Next Act.
"I'm working on an animated short film that I wrote a long time ago, and I've finally found an artist who would be perfect for it. I figure that when "House" is over, I'll need to create the opportunities I'm hoping for."