‘The Good Doctor’ Freddie Highmore Opens up about His ‘Moral Responsibility’ to Play Shaun

Dr. Shaun Murphy, a character with autism, is played with great sensitivity by Freddie Highmore, a well known British actor who has graced our screens from a very young age.

Freddie Highmore has taken on many sensitive roles since the beginning of his acting career and none more so than his brilliant depiction of a young autistic surgeon in the series "The Good Doctor."

One of the first sensitive roles we saw Highmore in was that of twins in "The Spiderwick Chronicles." In this great children's movie, Freddie played two people with completely different perspectives and emotional challenges.

He had the difficult task of convincing the audience that he was two different people with different ways of handling things in tough situations.

Another challenging role was that of Peter Llewelyn Davies in "Finding Neverland." The character was a traumatized young boy of four who had lost his father to cancer.

Freddie played the part to perfection, even crying on cue during the show's most heart-wrenching scenes of the young lad slowly losing his mother to illness too.

Mentored by the best in the industry, Johnny Depp, Freddie has proven time and again that he is not afraid of taking on the hard roles and making them work.

Highmore's obvious empathy for his characters, even serial killer Norman Bates who no doubt loved his mother, is what the audience feels while watching him perform.

Variety wrote in a review of the show:

“Freddie Highmore is an immensely talented actor, and he brings intelligence and depth to his portrayal of Dr. Shaun Murphy.”

Playing a serial killer in the series "Bates Motel" since the age of nineteen, Highmore believes it is his "Moral responsibility" to play Shaun now.

Highmore has co-written and directed episodes of the show and believes that it is important to show a diversity of the masculine aura while raising awareness for autism and the spectrum, saying:

“It’s especially important in today’s world to portray different versions of masculinity, not only the stereotypical ones.”

Highmore's obvious empathy for his characters, even serial killer Norman Bates who no doubt loved his mother, is what the audience feels while watching him perform.

Fans are hoping "The Good Doctor" continues for a long time with the autism community, and everyone else, rooting for Dr. Shaun Murphy.