{"id":9117,"date":"2018-03-26T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/good-doctors-freddie-highmore\/"},"modified":"2018-03-28T15:40:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T19:40:01","slug":"the-good-doctors-freddie-highmore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/the-good-doctors-freddie-highmore\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good Doctor\u2019s Freddie Highmore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Freddie Highmore began acting when he was a child, earning roles in films like Finding Neverland<\/em> and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory<\/em>. His foray into episodic television came with Bates Motel<\/em>, a prequel to the film Psycho<\/em>. While shooting the last episodes of Bates Motel<\/em>, Highmore was contacted about a new show from House<\/em> creator David Shore. The two met and started crafting Dr. Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon with savant syndrome, the lead character in The Good Doctor<\/em>. The drama is a breakout hit this season on ABC and has been renewed for a second season. Highmore talks about preparing for the role and portraying Shaun as authentically as possible.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> What research did you do to prepare for the role of Dr. Shaun Murphy?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> Shaun needed more careful preparation than other characters in terms of wanting to make sure that the autism he has was portrayed as authentically as possible. That was something David and I had many conversations about before and shared pieces of literature and documentaries back and forth and still do. On the show (and certainly for the pilot), we have a full-time autism consultant who is there for all aspects of preproduction, production and postproduction. We thought that those steps were necessary and that was what we focused on during those initial conversations about building the character.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Shaun has autism, but as a viewer, I feel he can represent any of us who may feel discriminated against. Is that a message of the show as well?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> Yes, absolutely, and in terms of creating the character it wasn\u2019t purely focusing on him as someone with autism but an individual in his own right. We are all aware that Shaun is never going to be representative of everyone who does have autism. And many of the individual nuances and even the things that make Shaun excited or make him laugh or make him fall in love are idiosyncrasies that are unique to him, and may or may not be related to the fact that he has autism. Yes, he speaks not only to those who have autism or may be close to those who have autism, but also more widely to anyone who feels somewhat different or marginalized by society or discriminated against in the workplace. Or people who feel they haven\u2019t been given their shot in life or been given the opportunity that they deserve to excel at the thing that they are really good at.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> There are a lot of subtleties in your portrayal of Shaun, in his glances, his gestures. Was that also how you approached playing Norman Bates? Not everything about those two characters\u2019 behavior is in your face.
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> I think that probably speaks to characters that interest me in general and performances that I admire most in other actors\u2014those that are subtle and based around the nuances and little things that [aren\u2019t immediately apparent but] the audience figures out.<\/p>\n

For characters that are internal like Shaun, the camera sees so much and is able to get inside his head a little bit, so there is no need to be performative or over the top because the camera can see those subtle things. [Things that] if we are interacting on a real basis, outside of the camera, people may not necessarily see or pick up on.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> There was a tremendous tragic sadness underpinning Norman, while I feel Shaun is more optimistic.
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> Yes, I think that\u2019s why people are getting on the journey of The Good Doctor.<\/em> There is hopefulness to it and to Shaun and his autism and to the fact that he is trying to [fit in]. He\u2019s a really nice person. I would always defend Norman and say [his behavior] wasn\u2019t his fault; he was loving. Especially in our current time, when it\u2019s very easy to come by so much negativity on a daily basis, having a character like Shaun is refreshing.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Shaun is extremely direct with patients because that is how he communicates. Some people might feel uncomfortable having a doctor like that. Will Shaun\u2019s relationship with patients evolve during the series?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> From the very beginning, the show attempts to give an honest assessment of what Shaun can bring to the hospital and what he can contribute, and at the same time what his weaknesses are. Like every human being, Shaun is not a superhero. He\u2019s going to make mistakes. Some things about his personality will not be helpful and others will be. Having that honest assessment of his skill set is what the show tries to do at the beginning. Dr. Melendez\u2019s [Nicholas Gonzalez] concerns about Shaun and how he may cope under pressure and his decision-making abilities are valid questions. That is what the show hopes to ask. Those are important questions, questions that Shaun often asks of other people in the show, questions that maybe we\u2019re too afraid to ask, but Shaun doesn\u2019t have those feelings around them.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> He doesn\u2019t have much of a filter. I remember him asking, \u201cYou\u2019re very arrogant. Does that help make you a better doctor?\u201d I loved that question!
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> I love his curiosity, and there\u2019s an innocence in those questions, but also a directness. There are many behaviors in life, as a society, which are taught to us\u2014we should behave in this way because that\u2019s how it is. Shaun hasn\u2019t necessarily picked up on all those societal cues and ways of behaving that for one reason or another people are forced to follow. That\u2019s also what makes him an interesting character. He asks questions that are interesting and speak to us. Often the questions that Shaun asks are the questions that all of us have in our heads and are too afraid to ask.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> On Bates Motel<\/em>, you wrote some episodes and directed, and you are a producer on The Good Doctor<\/em>. Do you see yourself possibly directing or working in the writers\u2019 room?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> I would love to be a part of that from next season. I\u2019ve enjoyed the producing side of The Good Doctor<\/em> and supporting David as much as possible, which for all of the producers, that\u2019s effectively our role. He has such a great vision for this character and the story in general and it\u2019s our job to try to service that as best we can. And help out in whatever way is useful.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Had you watched House<\/em> before taking on the role of Shaun?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> I hadn\u2019t seen all of House<\/em>, but I had seen various episodes over the years. I\u2019m glad that Hugh Laurie was not only successful but also British. I feel that was probably one of the reasons that David decided to go with me for the role. He had such success with Brits in the past that he felt, Well, I guess I\u2019ll give another one a go! If Hugh had somehow been dreadful and let David down, I feel Brits would have been banned from working on a David Shore show!<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> I interviewed Hugh Laurie when he was on House<\/em>, and he told me he remained in character the whole time he was on set, even during breaks, because of the challenge with the accent. Do you do the same?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> I try to stay in it as much as possible. It\u2019s somewhat disingenuous to get on the phone with you and speak in an American accent or speak in Shaun\u2019s voice, so I reverted to my British self for these few minutes, but usually, I try to stay in it as much as I can.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> I appreciate it! Thank you very much.
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> [Laughs<\/em>] I just think it would be slightly odd if you get on the phone and suddenly you are speaking with someone who sounds suspiciously like Shaun!<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> How have you handled the transition to network series? Bates<\/em> Motel<\/em> was ten episodes per season; The Good Doctor<\/em> is more.
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> We are doing 18 episodes this season. It certainly feels manageable. I love the opportunity that working in longer-form storytelling such as television brings and building a character out over time never feels rushed. Shaun\u2019s development will have space to breathe because of that. Regarding the challenges, working on a show that has a procedural element to it brings a certain repetition week after week that people tune in for and want to see. But at the same time, it\u2019s marrying that sense of repetition with Shaun\u2019s character development. He has to grow and he has to grow reasonably quickly when he\u2019s thrown into this entirely new environment. That\u2019s one of the challenges in plotting Shaun\u2019s development while at the same time keeping a sense of continuity to what people like about the show and what people want to watch. You can\u2019t do too much too quickly, but he is a very surprising character when he first shows up and how he surprises people will have to change for it to remain surprising.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Have you received any reaction from the autism community?
\nHIGHMORE:<\/strong> Yes, we were lucky enough toward the end of last year to be honored at a gala by Autism Speaks. More than that, it was the opportunity to talk to people who have autism or are close to those who do and hear in which ways they have been affected by the show and in which ways they connect with Shaun. I always say, and probably repeat it too often, even though he isn\u2019t representative of everyone on the spectrum, I think [people] are connecting to the way in which he is seen and treated and categorized by society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The star of the ABC\u00a0medical drama\u2014which has been renewed for a second season\u2014talks about playing his role\u00a0as authentically as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":9118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[515,2401,2075],"class_list":["post-9117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-abc","tag-freddie-highmore","tag-the-good-doctor","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Good Doctor\u2019s Freddie Highmore - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/the-good-doctors-freddie-highmore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Good Doctor\u2019s Freddie Highmore - 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