Freddie Highmore has every reason to feel fine as “The Good Doctor” draws near its close for Season 3. ABC's hit medical drama has already been given the news that Freddie Highmore and the rest of the cast who collaborate to drive the private and professional lives of the surgical residents and staff at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital have a fourth season.

Broadway World reported the network’s renewal on February 10, giving everyone involved with the show reason to celebrate. In a February 13 Good Housekeeping feature via MSN, Freddie Highmore described his personal satisfaction in being part of the production spearheaded by the creator, David Shore.

"The Good Doctor" has maintained its status as the highest-rated of ABC TV Shows.

The British actor has been acclaimed for his talent since before “Finding Neverland” and seems constantly in pursuit of more challenging projects. Still, the thespian who turns 28, today, February 14, on Valentine's Day, realizes the greater power in “The Good Doctor.” Freddie Highmore is helping other people on the autism spectrum to be seen and appreciated as valuable and diverse assets, regardless of vocation.

Freddie Highmore was first in line for ‘The Good Doctor’

Karey Burke announced the news of the Season 4 surety with beaming pride through the ABC Entertainment president’s words. Calling the drama “a cornerstone of Monday nights” and lauding how the series “fearlessly tackles inclusivity,” Burke credited David Shore, Freddie Highmore, and the “incredible cast” for maintaining the status of the show as a breakout hit.

Freddie Highmore was fresh off his run with “Bates Motel” when the celebrated show creator approached him with “The Good Doctor” in 2017.

Shore and the leading actor devoted themselves to an intensive study of autism, and for Freddie Highmore, he had only to look to people in his life as instructors, having known people on the autism disorder spectrum for several years.

Special consultant, Melissa Reiner, was part of the very first episode and remains with the drama today.

Information gleaned from books, literature, and documentaries gave a foundation for “building this one, very particular character.” Freddie Highmore has stressed in numerous past interviews that when you meet a person with autism, you've met “one person with autism.” Highmore continually stresses how people with autism are multidimensional, just like every other person.

‘Fortunate’ is the word for Freddie Highmore

“I feel very fortunate to have been offered the part of Shaun,” the Good Housekeeping profile excerpts from Freddie Highmore's interview with Digital Spy. The star is the first to appreciate how thrilled his character becomes with exciting and baffling new cases as a surgeon, but Highmore himself delights “in the way that Shaun is a fully formed character.”

The first season on “The Good Doctor” delved into how Dr. Murphy arrived at his place of becoming a surgical resident, the abuse and horrors of his youth, the death of his brother, and yet, his unquenchable hopeful spirit. There were many “firsts” for the resident, as he formed his first independent relationships with new friends.

The second season brought different challenges. Freddie Highmore depicted Shaun Murphy devoting himself to saving his mentor, Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff), while at the same time, facing foes who didn't feel the brilliant surgeon belonged in the operating room. No matter opposition, Shaun Murphy is willing to see good in everyone, while still telling the truth.

The third season has brought “The Good Doctor” into the realm of adult relationships and romance. He had to face his father on his deathbed, who still could not bring himself to forgiveness. Shaun discovered that forgiveness is a gift not to the offender, but to oneself.

Freddie Highmore communicates more through his character’s eyes and intensity than many actors pull from countless pages of a script.

He refuses to allow Shaun to become “emotionless.” Instead, just the opposite is true. Viewers celebrate with “The Good Doctor” in jubilant jumps on joyful days and self-affliction in his grief. Frequent kisses have been seen through Season 3 thus far. The full range of character development transfers to the understanding of real people with autism, Highmore hopes. He strives to allow them to be seen as real individuals. “That's why I wanted to be part of it. I'm proud to be part of it,” praises the actor.

Freddie Highmore wants a show of hands in “The Good Doctor”

In this week's Episode 14 of “The Good Doctor,” Shaun Murphy was very disturbed by prying cameras during private moments, but he intentionally keeps his hands out front and clasped in many scenes on the drama.

Freddie Highmore first developed Shaun Murphy's frequently clasped hands as “something that makes him stand out.” In the early treatment of autism, “quiet hands” were encouraged to alleviate the repetitive motions that exhibit in some persons with autism [stim]. For Highmore, he sees another affinity in the gesture for his character. Surgeons consider the front of the body most sterile, so many of them clasp hands as a natural course of healthy behavior. Highmore sees that the gesture combines “something of trauma” from the past and something natural and “comforting” for surgeons as well.

Highmore's castmate, Will Yun Lee, who portrays Dr. Alex Park related how his English costar keeps things lively on the set since his fellow actors never know which direction he will take his character.

Lee did say that some of the action for “The Good Doctor” for the rest of this season would go outside of the hospital.

Lee elaborated on the campfire atmosphere shared between the cast during shoots in chilly Vancouver. Fans of Freddie Highmore and the full cast of “The Good Doctor” are delighted to have another full season of episodes to anticipate, even if everyone's hands have to be in pockets.
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