That Was Quick! Freddie Highmore Lands First Role After The Good Doctor — and It’s Nothing Like Shaun
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Freddie Highmore is moving as far away from The Good Doctor as possible. The actor, who has had a long and successful career playing very different roles, is nonetheless stepping into entirely new shoes. But what is Highmore doing next now that The Good Doctor has ended?
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What’s Freddie Highmore’s Next Project?
Dr. Shaun Murphy no more. TVLine reports that Highmore’s first project post The Good Doctor is set to be the Prime Video thriller The Assasin, opposite Keeley Hawes. The two will also executive produce.
The show will star Hawes as Julie, a retired assassin living on a remote Greek island. Edward plays her estranged son. The six-episode series will see Edward trying to find the right time to speak to his mother about his paternity, but “when the moment finally presents itself, things take a deadly turn as Julie’s dangerous past catches up with her, and they are forced to flee the island and go on the run together.”
The cast also includes Gina Gershon, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Jack Davenport, Alan Dale, Gerald Kyd, Devon Terrell, Richard Dormer, and David Dencik.
Highmore became well-known as a child actor, starring in films like Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. As an adult, he made a name for himself by starring as Norman Bates in the drama-thriller series Bates Motel before moving on to The Good Doctor.
More: The most shocking exits in The Good Doctor history
ABC’s The Good Doctor was a medical drama following Dr. Shaun Murphy (played by Freddie Highmore), a young, autistic surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Despite skepticism from his colleagues, Shaun used his extraordinary gifts and unique talents to save lives. The series first premiered in 2017 and ran for seven seasons. The cast also included Richard Schiff as Aaron Glassman; Christina Chang as Audrey Lim; Chuku Modu as Jared Kalu; Fiona Gubelmann as Morgan Reznick; Will Yun Lee as Alex Park; Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo; Noah Galvin as Asher Wolke; Giacomo Baessato as Jerome Martel and Bria Samoné Henderson as Jordan Allen.
Despite consistently good ratings, ABC announced in January 2024 that the hit show would be ending with the upcoming Season 7. The network did not provide a specific reason as to why The Good Doctor was being canceled at the time, only noting that it “was time to say goodbye.”
The show’s series finale saw Dr. Aaron Glassman — who was played by Richard Schiff since Season 1, die of brain cancer. The episode ends with a 10-year time jump to Shaun as the Head of Surgery at St. Bonaventura. He is giving a TED Talk and everyone important to his journey, including his wife Lea, is there to cheer him on.
The Good Doctor is available to stream on Hulu.
Watch ‘The Good Doctor’ on Hulu
For more on The Good Doctor, check out the cast’s children and families in real life in the gallery below.
