Emmy Award Winner Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”), Nicholas Gonzalez and “The Good Doctor” Writer/Creator David Shore (“House”) shared deep thoughts about how their hit, new show has impacted so many members of the autism community during red carpet interviews at the 2nd Annual Autfest Film Festival last weekend in Beverly Hills. Melissa Reiner (Autism Consultant) also provided more insights during the panel discussion. And the star Freddie Highmore (Dr. Shaun Murphy) sent a special video message that was played during this two-day festival.
Richard Schiff (Dr. Glassman) brilliantly plays a mentor, father figure and sounding board to Dr. Shaun Murphy in ABC’s “The Good Doctor” that was recently renewed for a Season 2. In this medical drama, Shaun is a resident at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, California. His autism is a both gift and a challenge for his team. For example, Shaun often finds new ways of solving medical problems that saves lives and makes him the hero. And at the same time, Dr. Murphy struggles socially and seeks advice from fellow surgeons on how to make friends, date and what to wear to hospital fundraisers.
When asked what drew him to the show, Richard Schiff explained, “I have autism in my family so one of the reasons I was attracted to the show was because it has touched my life very closely. And that aspect of the show is what interested me. And exploring that relationship between someone who is helping someone with autism succeed in this world….And the person helping has to figure out the right ways in.”
Richard then shared that he has a son with autism so he’s really “done research for 23 years” to play this role. And his support for the autism community goes way back to the 1960s in NYC, even before he had a child. Watch this heartfelt interview with Richard Schiff to learn more:
As someone who often supervises Shaun, Nicholas Gonzalez (Dr. Melendez) plays a senior “hotshot” surgeon who manages the team dynamics. Reflecting on the show, Nicholas emphasized, “I think it’s important for everyone to realize that we never attempt to represent autism, but just one person on the spectrum. And we now have other representations as well, and hope to incorporate more in the show as we go on.” And then we discussed how many say, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism” because they are all different.
Gonzalez added, “It’s been such an amazing journey. I think the biggest gift from it has been the reception from the autism community because you can’t fake the trials, the successes, the failures, that so many autism families deal with on a daily basis. And to know that we’re sometimes resonating and giving a faithful representation – that means the world.”
When asked about whether they received any advice from fans about the show, Writer/Creator David Shore shared, “We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback. And we’re grateful for that. And a lot of letters from people saying how touched they were by it – from within the autism community and outside the autism community, to be honest. Anybody who’s different feels like this show is speaking to them. And we’re trying to do an honest, real portrayal of an individual,…who happens to have autism.”
Shore added, “We’re looking forward to a second season, and exploring this character, particularly his relationship to Dr. Glassman.”
And when we asked Richard and Nicholas about what we can expect in Season 2, they were looking for insights from David Shore, who had nothing to share. The only update we received is that they will start filming in June.
Autfest was hosted by The Autism Society of America, and “The Good Doctor” was one of many films, shorts and TV shows shown over the weekend. The goal was to “increase awareness of autism through the medium of film in order to promote a greater knowledge of the important value of individuals with autism.” And “The Good Doctor” screening, panel and these red carpet interviews all contributed to that goal. Thank you to everyone who made this film festival a huge success! And for more Aufest videos, visit our Autism Guardian Angels YouTube Channel.
