Why Olivia Wilde's Dr. Remy Hadley Left House M.D.

Across the eight seasons "House M.D." ran on Fox, the show created a colorful cast of misfit doctors around Dr. Gregory House, who could each push the cranky doctor out of his comfort zone as he worked tirelessly to save the lives of patients he couldn't stand. Taking the formula of a Detective Sherlock Holmes story and placing it into the context of a medical drama was TV gold, producing one of the best medical shows of all time, with a seemingly never-ending series of twists and turns for House to unravel.

And there is, of course, no Sherlock without his Watson, and luckily for Doctor House (or unluckily if you asked him), he had a whole team of Watsons to assist him. In the show's third season finale, House's team disbanded, and when "House" returned for its fourth season, it brought on a trio of new team members to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson) stayed for the rest of the series, while Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) dramatically left the series, but it was Dr Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, played by Olivia Wilde, who left the biggest mark on the show when she left the series in season 7.

Before Jon Favreau brought the wild west to space with "The Mandalorian" on Disney+, he brought space down to the wild west in "Cowboys and Aliens." The blockbuster starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford was one of the hottest projects on the market, and when the producers of the film offered Wilde the role of a mysterious woman at the heart of the film's story, she took the opportunity. This required Wilde to take a "leave of absence" from the show in season 7 so she could go off and shoot the film, with Thirteen appearing in the early part of the season before officially leaving the show before season 8 kicked off.

Everyone involved in making "House" was happy to give Wilde the time to make the film, which tied in well with her character's subplot of dealing with her Huntington's disease diagnosis. But as one of the rare characters on the show whom House actually respected, her absence was felt when she left for good, making only a brief appearance in the series finale.

Luckily for Wilde, she made the right call taking the part. Even if "Cowboys and Aliens" didn't make the biggest splash, it did open the door for her to star in more films and eventually direct her own: the coming-of-age comedy "Booksmart" and the twisty thriller "Don't Worry Darling."