“Unveiling the Secrets: What The Good Doctor Reveals About the Realities of Medicine and Humanity”
Since it first graced our screens back in 2017, The Good Doctor has turned into quite the sensation! Who wouldn’t be captivated by Dr. Shaun Murphy, an introverted yet brilliant autistic surgical resident? But let’s not stop at just the surface—there’s a treasure trove of fascinating behind-the-scenes gems that reveal the true heartbeat of this show. For example, did you know that the talented Freddie Highmore barely had enough time to grab a coffee between acting gigs? Yeah, folks—just three days of downtime! So, strap in as we explore the intriguing world behind The Good Doctor. You won’t want to miss these details! LEARN MORESince it first aired on ABC in 2017, The Good Doctor has become a major hit. Fans can’t seem to get enough of Dr. Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident who happens to be autistic. But it’s time to dive deeper than that character trait and learn about different behind-the-scenes facts, including how lead actor Freddie Highmore only had three days to rest between gigs!
Freddie Highmore Is In It For More Than Acting
When Freddie Highmore was cast as Dr. Murphy, he made it apparent that he was in this ground-breaking show for more than the acting. He wanted to contribute more, something he made developer David Shore aware of early on.
This is the reason why Highmore is also credited as an executive producer on the series. He even contributed as a writer, coming up with the script for the season two premiere, “Hello.”
A Lot Of Research Went Into Dr. Murphy’s Character
The one aspect that sets The Good Doctor apart from other medical shows on TV is that the main character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, is an autistic surgical resident. Because of this, a lot of research went into learning about how the autistic mind works to portray the character accurately.
According to developer David Shore, “We consulted with people. We have people on the spectrum who we’re working with…we want to make sure that we don’t represent him as being representative in any way.”
Antonia Thomas Was The First Actor Hired For The Show
One of the biggest complaints about season one of The Good Doctor is the fact that there was no depth to Antonia Thomas’s character, Dr. Claire Brown. Everything with the character seemed only skin deep. An interesting quirk on the writers’ part, considering Thomas was the first actor to be hired for the ABC series!
She was even hired before lead actor Freddie Highmore came into the picture as Dr. Murphy.
Dr. Neil Melendez’s Elk Tattoo Is Fake
While actor Nicholas Gonzalez is ink-free, his character on The Good Doctor, Dr. Neil Melendez, has an intricate tattoo of an elk head on his shoulder/neck. The tattoo has more than one fan asking questions, questions that have yet to be answered by the writers and showrunners.
During an interview with Shine On Media, Gonzalez spoke of the meaning behind this character’s tattoo, saying, ‘I don’t want to just give some quick little thing to satisfy people.”
18 Episode Seasons Was Freddie Highmore’s Idea
One of Highmore’s brilliant ideas was to make each season of The Good Doctor 18 episodes instead of a standard 22-24. This is because he didn’t want the writers to push for quantity instead of quality.
During an interview with Adweek, Highmore said, “It’s the idea of making the show as good as it can possibly be… You’d never want to just be doing more for the sake of it, and so it seems like a wise idea to start with that and see how things go.”
A Famous Actor’s Company Produces The Series
The Good Doctor is produced by the company 3AD. And the founder of the company is none other than Daniel Dae Kim of Lost, Hawaii Five-0, and Angel fame. Kim first founded 3AD back in 2013 after signing a deal with CBS Television Studios.
Now, he’s one of the executive producers on the hit ABC series and even played a huge part in the South Korean series become an American adaptation, buying the rights to the production for 3AD.
Freddie Highmore Didn’t Want To Commit To Another Show
When Freddie Highmore was offered the role of Dr. Murphy in The Good Doctor, he was fresh off another hit series, Bates Motel. He knew how much time and effort went into a series of that caliber and wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to make the commitment.
Thankfully, developer David Shore is very convincing. He wound up being able to talk Highmore into the starring role and the rest, as they say, is history.
