The actor plays Dr. Gregory House in US TV medical drama House M.D. He spends much of his time filming the programme in Los Angeles while his wife of 20 years Jo remains in their North London home. Hugh has previously declined to speak about his private life, but has now admitted spending such large amounts of time apart has put a strain on his relationship. "I wouldn`t say that doing the series has made my marriage easier. Better? I don`t know about that either," he told Parade magazine. "Doing weekly TV is like joining the Navy and going on the other side of the world for ten months of the year. But the truth is that whatever challenging situation you`re in, somebody somewhere has got a much more extreme version. So I think one ought to shut up and not moan about it." Hugh and Jo married in 1989, and have kids Charlie, 21, Bill, 19, and Rebecca, 16, together. The actor began shooting House in 2004, and he and Jo took the decision for the family to remain in the UK as they were concerned about uprooting the children. The 50-year-old has regularly been seen looking unhappy while in the US, and has previously said he works so hard on the series he doesn`t consider his time there to be "a life at all". Despite his admission, Hugh still loves playing the irritable doctor. He insists there are no plans to end the show, but says when it does finish he hopes it goes out in style. "We don`t talk about when we`ll pack it in. But when the time comes, I think it would be good to have sort of a clean finish rather than just sort trailing off. I`d like to go out with a bang, not a whimper," he explained. "In the meantime, House is a character I still am fascinated by. I think that`s part of an actor`s job, to love the character you play. I would be foolish not to go the distance playing him, how ever far that may be."