Freddie enjoys high life
TELEVISION’S FAVOURITE YOUNG DOCTOR BELIEVES OPTIMISM IS THE KEY TO THE SHOW’S SUCCESS
Freddie Highmore is the star of Australian television’s number one drama, The Good Doctor, but the actor still managed to get around Bondi without getting noticed.
FREDDIE Highmore might be the star of Australian television’s number one drama, The Good Doctor, and been nominated for Golden Globes for his work but the unassuming English actor still managed to explore Bondi without getting swamped by fans.
Highmore was in Sydney for the first time over the weekend promoting the Channel 7 show and, despite the success of the show, remained pretty anonymous.
“We’ve been in such a bubble filming, so it’s hard to have any real sense of how much people have been watching, because we only finished filming last week,” he said.
Highmore, who first found fame at 12 playing opposite Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland, plays autistic surgeon Dr Shaun Murphy in the drama.
He credits the success of the show to his character’s optimism.
“Shaun always sees the good in people,” he said. “I think he has a positive view of humanity and in a time when you can turn on your TV and see so much negativity and see so many stories about antiheroes, I think there is something nice and refreshing to have the opposite.”
The actor also hopes the show serves as a start in raising greater awareness for people on the autism spectrum.
“We need to be careful when discussing this show not to make it seem that Shaun is somehow representative of everyone who has autism, he said.
“As the phrase goes, ‘If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism’ but, of course, it would be lovely is this show sparked further discussion.
“Not only in raising awareness how people with autism are dealt with in the workplace but hopefully more widely too – for anyone who has felt discriminated against and haven’t had their fair shot in life.”