The Good Doctor

Season 1 M-Net (*101) 20:00 Drama

Hill Harper is perfectly suited to play Chief Of Surgery Dr Marcus Andrews in medical drama The Good Doctor (2017current) – his dad Harry is a psychiatrist and his mom Marilyn was one of the first African-American anaesthesiologists in the US in 1963. “You could say that I was born to wear a doctor’s white coat but acting is the closest I’ll get,” says the actor. But that’s out of choice and not because Hill didn’t have what it takes to get into medical school…

The 51-year-old is seriously brainy 1

– he’s got three degrees from top US universities: a BA Arts from Brown, a law degree from Harvard and his Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School Of Government.

He’s also got entrepreneurial tal2

ents and founded Be The Architect skincare products in 2011 after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “I woke up unable to swallow. A doctor friend ordered a biopsy and I had surgery to remove my thyroid,” he explains.

Hill’s work with cancer charities 3

also got him noticed by former US President Barack Obama and the actor was made a member of the President’s Cancer Panel in 2012 to help oversee cancer research and treatment.

That wasn’t the first time that Hill 4

met Barack. The pair go way back to their varsity days – they were in the same law class at Harvard and have been friends for over 20 years.

Art has almost imitated life for his 5

character Dr Andrews, who is told that he’s infertile and can’t have the kids he desperately wants. In real life, single Hill wanted a family but when that dream faded, he adopted a newborn in 2015. “I was given an opportunity to help a homeless mother and her child. I couldn’t say no,” he reveals.