Did Freddie Highmore Like Playing Norman Bates
It was her hope that Carlton Cuse would get his Norma by casting Freddie in the role. As a result of growing bored with portraying “the same character over and over again,” he began to consider playing Norman. To finish his university degree, he took six months off filming, and filming had to be scheduled around that.
Coby Bird Actor With Autism Paving The Way For Actors With Disabilities
For the past four years, Bird has trained with Los Angeles theater company The Miracle Project, an award-winning theater program for children and teens on the autism spectrum.
Kudos to the show for hiring a person with autism to portray a person with autism, said Elaine Hall, executive director of The Miracle Project.
Just five percent of characters with disabilities in primetime television are portrayed by actors with disabilities the rest are played by an actor pretending to have a disability.
There is an enormous untapped potential of individuals with disabilities who are talented actors to play their own roles as people with disabilities, Hall said. We hope that showrunners will continue to collaborate and develop this talent pool through these opportunities.
Last year, Bird also guest starred on an episode of Speechless as a character with autism.
Bird is represented by Gail Ford Williamson of the Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin Diversity Department. Williamson represents more than 300 performers with disabilities.
Coby is a wonderful young actor on the spectrum who has won the hearts of casting directors and producers, Williamson said. He often auditions for roles that casting is looking for adults to play, but once they see Cobys skills, they have no problem hiring a minor and accepting the extra expense and limited work day.
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Is The Hospital In The Good Doctor Real
Don’t miss a story. ABC medical drama The Good Doctor is set in San Jose, but doesn’t actually film here. … The television show stars an autistic savant aspiring surgeon played by English actor Freddie Highmore who does his residency at the prestigiousbut fictionalSan Jose St.Bonaventure Hospital.
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The Good Doctorwhich Premiered Monday On Abc Is Your Standard Hospital Procedural
This allows the show to constantly juxtapose. This tv show is definitely one of the kind as. Hes also a producer on the good doctor, wrote the season two premiere and directed another episode. Shaun murphy is not an abrasive misanthrope like dr. The shows biggest battle isnt that american audiences wont connect we all love a good medical drama its that it has to finely walk the path of making their autistic lead character not fall victim stereotypes. The good doctor himself, dr shaun murphy, is a surgical trainee with excellent memory recall and attention to detail who faces stigma but often saves absolute numbers of autistic doctors practising in the profession are unknown. Its pretty remarkable that an average 17.4 million people have been tuning in each week to watch a character with autism. Shaun murphy, an autistic young doctor with savant syndrome. Whilst some doctors see him as having deficits, others see him as remarkably gifted. Shaun murphy from the good doctor. The good doctor on abc is about a young autistic doctor, shaun murphy, who leaves his rural life to join a big hospital in san jose. I have autism, its part of who i am.. Murphy is the classic white cis male.
My Thoughts On ‘the Good Doctor’ As An Autistic Person
People sometimes ask me whether I like the show The Good Doctor. If you havent heard of it, it is a show about a young autistic man who becomes a surgical resident at a hospital. I have been watching it since the first episode came out last year.
Whenever there is a show or movie featuring an autistic character, everyone always debates whether the show portrays autism realistically or not. My answer to that is, it is impossible to say for sure, because autism is so different for everyone who experiences it.
Some people who are familiar with autism have criticized The Good Doctor because he is not only autistic but has savant skills. He can perfectly visualize the organs of the body and how they work together, and often comes up with unexpected solutions that save the day. Critics complain that it will make people assume all autistic people have savant skills, like how the original famous autistic character, Rain Man, made people assume all autistic people can instantly tell you how many toothpicks you spilled on the floor. On the other hand, when shows or movies portray autistic people as having severe disabilities, people get mad that it will cause viewers to assume that everyone with autism is nonverbal or needs full time assistance.
That being said, I do identify with a lot of the things Shaun Murphy goes through.
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Coby Bird Actor With Autism To Guest Star On The Good Doctor
Coby Bird and Freddie Highmore of The Good Doctor
Los Angeles, Nov. 12 On Monday, Nov. 13, Coby Bird will be a guest star on ABCs The Good Doctor. Bird was diagnosed with autism at the age of five. At fifteen years old, he stands out in the crowd at six feet tall.
Bird plays a patient with autism who causes the main character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, to reflect on his own diagnosis of autism.
Murphy is a doctor with autism and savant spectrum played by Freddie Highmore, who is not on the spectrum. The doctor takes on the case of a patient with autism .
Youre scaring him, Murphy says in a preview. Hes not psychotic hes autistic.
Birds character, who feels comfortable with Murphy, requests him to be his surgeon. Murphys supervisor has yet to let him do a real surgery.
Freddie Highmore As Dr Shaun Murphy
Freddie Highmore takes on the role of The Good Doctors protagonist, Dr Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgical resident. The young doctors savant abilities include the ability to photographic recall and the ability to note minute details and changes in his patients, which are often intertwined with flashbacks to his teen years .
While hes all grown up now, fans may remember Highmore for his role as Charlie in the 2005 Tim Burton classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The English actor later earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of Norman Bates in the psychological thriller series, Bates Motel. As well as taking on The Good Doctor and Bates Motels title characters, Highmore has written, produced and directed episodes for both shows.
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Is The Actor In Good Doctor Actually Autistic
Though Freddie Highmore isn’t autistic, the show does cast autistic actors. The show has been criticized by some for casting a neurotypical person in the lead role, but the casting directors have sought actors with ASD for guest roles. … During the first season, autistic actor Coby Bird portrays a patient with autism.
A Broken Cup And Putting Life Together On The Good Doctor
Shaun is cautioned by Dr. Andrews to not bring up autism again.
The Good Doctor persists, however, particularly after realizing that Chambers suffers from Musicians Dystonia, which is habitual positioning of the wrist while straight. The discovery is another consistency with ASD indicators. Dr. Guerin witnesses the cruel attack on The Good Doctor from Chambers. The patient refers to the surgeon as a child playing dress-up, and everyone else plays along. Guerin declares that he no longer holds Chambers in esteem. The new resident questions Claire about how much one has to change in becoming a surgeon. I want to change whats in the world around me, he says insightfully. Its clear that hes making a big change.
Once Shaun confirms that Silas Chambers fits the criteria on the ASD scale, the patient tears into a heated exchange, screaming at The Good Doctor as he steps back.
The yellow mug that Chambers always holds breaks in the scuffle. Dr. Murphy doesnt just return the next day with an exact replica of the originalit didnt seem repaired he brings his own story.
The very lessons that Claire points out to Shaun as markers that he can grow into being a very good father are palpably on display. Chambers only had his career and reputation. Shaun learned lessons. He cultivated insights to build relationships and his most important relationship will be with his child.
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Highmore Does Not Have Autism But He Studied The Disorder Carefully For The Show
In real life, Highmore does not have any developmental disability. But playing the role of someone with multiple disorders requires extensive knowledge of the disorders themselves. He once said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he knows someone with autism but also did a lot of research to learn the best way to portray the role. He also once mentioned a full-time consultant who oversees the way his role is portrayed and helps him learn the best way to act it out.
National Center On Disability And Journalism
The primetime ABC drama The Good Doctor follows the career and personal life of a young surgeon with autism. The title character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, is played by Freddie Highmore who does not have autism. However, Monday nights episode was unique in that a guest role featuring a character with autism was played by Coby Bird, an experienced actor with autism. This article on The Mighty by Elizabeth Cassidy describes Birds work and perspective on his character.
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My Review Of ‘the Good Doctor’ As An Adult With Autism
This blog is by Kerry Magro, an award-winning international motivational speaker and best-selling author whos on the autism spectrum. A version of this blog originally appeared on Kerrymagro.com.
Full disclosure: After only watching one episode, I have no idea what the future is for The Good Doctor . What I can tell you: this show has all the makings of an ABC smash hit.
Lets begin with the cast. Freddie Highmore stars as Dr. Shaun Murphy, an up-and-coming surgeon who also happens to have autism and savant syndrome. This is a very difficult role for anyone to play given how broad the autism spectrum truly is. Some criticism has occurred as many TV productions and films try to address autism issues. There is no one size fits all in attempting to define characters on the spectrum. This list in recent years includes characters such as Walter Hill in Joyful Noise, Billy in the new Power Rangers Movie, Jane in Jane Wants a Boyfriend, and most recently in Sam Gardener, a high-functioning teen with autism in Netflixs Atypical.
As for the script there are several plot lines that will intrigue audiences and the direction couldnt be crisper from Seth Gordon along with the writing done by David Shore .
This show has staying power and I can only hope the creators of the show along with Sony and ABC will continue to include voices of those on the spectrum as the show continues.
Is The Guy Who Plays The Good Doctor Autistic
With the former Bates Motel star playing the genius autistic doctor so convincingly, fans are wondering if Freddie Highmore is autistic. Read on for all the details. Freddie Highmores representation of the autistic Dr. Shaun Murphy is so authentic that it can sometimes confuse fans of The Good Doctor.
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Does The Good Doctor Have Autism
Starring Freddie Highmore as Dr., The Good Doctor is directed by Christopher Nolan. There is no autism in real life for Freddie. A consultant for autism helps Freddie in his role by doing research and providing support. On Monday, November 2, ABC will air the premiere of The Good Doctor’s fourth season.
Will Yun Lee As Dr Alex Park
In The Good Doctor, Lee stars as the series Dr Alex Park, a surgical resident and former police officer from Phoenix, Arizona.
The actor has a notable career in Hollywood, starring as Danny Woo in the supernatural drama Witchblade and Jae Kim in the sci-fi series Bionic Woman. He has also appeared in True Blood, Hawaii Five-O, Torque and Elektra. Interestingly, the actor holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and once earned an athletic scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied political science and ethnic studies.
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The Good Doctor: One Autistics Review
Maxfield Sparrow
| Freddie Highmore as The Good Doctor | photo via IMDB[image: Young white man with short dark hair and dark eyes,wearing a surgeons cap, with a surgical mask around his neck. |
- An accurate representation of what autism can look like
- An accurate representation of how the world treats Autistic people
- Some effort to move the public understanding of autism and Autists to a new level
The point of the label was to highlight the juxtaposition of extreme incompetence and extreme competence. Not only were the term and the ideas behind it offensive and ableist, it was a way of stating what society finds valuable or worthless about a person. The brilliant musicianship, for example, was valuable because people liked to hear the music and would pay money to listen. The idiot nature of the rest of the persons life was considered worthless.
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Anatomy Of A Hit: How Abc’s ‘the Good Doctor’ Became The Season’s Breakout
Sociologist William Petersen coined the term model minority to describe positively stereotyped demographic groups that achieve success despite marginalization. For instance, Asian Americans transformed from the yellow peril and brown horde of the late 19th century to a respected and industrious group that closed the wage gap by the 1970s not because of educational gains, economist Nathaniel Hilger found, but because of less racist public perceptions. Contrast The Mask of Fu Manchu the infamous pre-Code film where Myrna Loy and Boris Karloff don yellowface for the roles of dragon lady and evil criminal genius to Bruce Lees martial arts films of the 70s in which Asian protagonists are idealized.
Idealizing traditional Asian values conveniently upheld the racist status quo. Asian Americans were elevated while other minorities, especially African Americans, were denigrated because they were not perceived to be as hard-working or self-sufficient. This undermined the call for systemic anti-racist changes demanded by the Civil Rights Movement.
For example, in The Good Doctor pilot, Dr. Murphy exists to enlighten his neurotypical peers. In an exchange with a skeptical hospital board, the president of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital justifies hiring the autistic surgeon because of Dr. Murphys genius-level skills and because it will feel goodWe hire Shaun and we make this hospital better for it. We hire Shaun, and we are better people for it.
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Does The Good Doctor Actor Freddie Highmore Have Autism
The Good Doctor was one of the most-watched shows for the 2017-2018 season. It follows the life of Shaun Murphy , a young surgeon who lives with autism and savant syndrome. Murphy was hired by the hospital against the wishes of most doctors, but one doctor, Dr. Aaron Glassman, took a chance on him. Murphy uses his developmental disabilities to help treat patients but does the actor live with autism in real life?
Laigha Anderson: ‘the Good Doctor’ Is Good Representation
Normally I like to start these off with some kind of anecdote about how the topic relates to me but I have a lot to say so I’ll just cut to the chase I have autism.
After my diagnosis, I struggled with what I saw on screen. I felt so unlike all of my classmates with autism and the image of 10-year-old boys who can’t speak but can scream was just so unlike me. Other depictions of autism were introverts with a 4.0 GPA. I felt like a zebra among horses.
That was, until I found “The Good Doctor.”
When I watched “The Good Doctor,” it wasn’t because of autism, it was because Dr. Mike, the most famous doctor on YouTube, said it was more medically accurate than my beloved “House.”
What I never expected to find was a character I related to more than anyone else. Shaun, for lack of a better word, is someone with autism living a normal life, just like me. He doesn’t want or need anyone to take care of him. He has his challenges but he grows, and I want to talk about that.
Throughout the series, Shaun, portrayed by Freddie Highmore, has a number of breakdowns, but three tell an arc of Shaun growing.
In the end, the doctor who reassigned Shaun due to his autism gets fired and Shaun gets his job back.
These aren’t the only times that we see Shaun have a hard time, and honestly those deserve a mention too. The parallel between Shaun’s sensory overload in mid season two and his breakdown in season three show how the people around Shaun have changed as people, too.
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On Shaun’s Evolution As A Character:
” spoke mostly about Shaun and the development of his character over time,” Freddie told the LA Times. “People who aren’t aware of autism in a personal way or haven’t watched the show sometimes say, ‘How will Shaun change? He’ll always have autism. What’s his arc going to be?’ So one of the things we discussed early on is, ‘Yes, he’ll always have autism. But he’s going to change continuously as an individual as he adapts to this new world that he finds himself in.’ That was exciting to me: This individual, regardless of whether or not he’s on the spectrum, is going on a journey as a character.”
Just because Shaun has autism, that doesn’t mean he’s not going to grow and change as a person.
Specifically, as Freddie said on Popcorn With Peter Travers, he’s enjoyed watching Shaun evolve from the naive young man he was when he first arrived in the “big city” for his residency after growing up in the countryside: “Just because Shaun has autism, that doesn’t mean he’s not going to grow and change as a person,” he said.