Don’t Make the Mistake of Thinking Shaun Can’t Change and Evolve, Says Freddie Highmore of THE GOOD DOCTOR
In a recent episode of THE GOOD DOCTOR, Dr. Shaun Murphy had a personal revelation about how he was handling the professional and personal pressures he was feeling.
“I think I may be cranky,” said Shaun, simultaneously experiencing the emotion, and accurately diagnosing himself.
As Season 4 of THE GOOD DOCTOR continues, airing Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, Freddie Highmore, who plays Shaun, was asked about all the changes – big and small – that Shaun is navigating.
When THE GOOD DOCTOR debuted back in 2017, Highmore’s nuanced and sensitive portrayal of an autistic surgeon with savant syndrome was widely applauded for its believability. So how has that research continued? After all, anybody who worked in a hospital for four years would be a different person, but how pronounced, or subtle, would Shaun’s changes be?
“I think that’s a really good question, and sort of observation,” Highmore said in a virtual interview with TV reporters. “I think often that when we think of people who have autism, there’s this tendency to think that means they can’t change, or they can’t evolve, or they can’t grow as a human being. And of course, that isn’t the case at all.”
Highmore said what makes the Shaun character so continuously exciting is the evolution, with Shaun encountering new situations. That’s not only in his chosen medical field, but also on an emotional level, such as falling in love for the first time in Season 3, or being in a relationship with Lea (Paige Spara) in Season 4.
“There’s constant research that does go on – the consultant who was on board at the very beginning is still on board the show now,” Highmore said. “And some of the change in the character – as with all characters that you get to play – also becomes a little bit instinctive. In the moment, you have to be able to rely on what feels right, when it’s a character you start knowing so well. There’s a sense of freedom, I guess, from having spent so long playing someone, to start innately understanding what Shaun’s response to a certain situation might be.”
Simply as an acting job, Highmore admitted that playing Shaun is a gift, because virtually every expression on Shaun’s face can wind up being a major plot point.
“I agree, and I think that helps ground the show, too,” Highmore said. “A huge achievement for Shaun, and a huge emotional moment, doesn’t have to be over the top in terms of melodrama. It can be sort of simple, or a seemingly simple realization as to the state of his emotions.”
Highmore said one of the best examples of that came at the end of Season 2, when Shaun finally asked Carly (Jasica Nicole) out on a date.
“She says yes, and then he walks down the road and celebrates with his flowers,” Highmore said. “It’s why David Shore (executive producer and writer) is so brilliant, that you can construct a whole season on the idea of, will Shaun find love, and will he be able to ask someone out on a date. It makes that last moment wholly satisfying somehow. That always felt great to me. I probably didn’t explain that very well, but you can just trim out that bit. That was a bit ‘waffley.’ ”
It wasn’t ‘waffley’ at all, actually. But while we’re on the subject, Shaun’s notorious tendency to be blunt rather than ‘waffley’ is on full display, for both dramatic and comedic effect, in Season 4 of THE GOOD DOCTOR. There are four new residents on board, and Shaun has to be a boss for the first time.
“Shaun is an unexpected character. He is surprising. He continues to surprise us,” Highmore said. “So while very much keeping with the fact that he has autism, we’re always looking for ways that he can still be surprising as a character, and therefore interesting to us when we get to watch him.”
