ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The gamer provided a great way into addressing Shauns need for independence.
What will it allow us to say?
One of the things I really like is how Shaun says these things like, You are very arrogant.
Eike Schroter/ABC
Does that help you be a better doctor?
The things he asks are the things we ask ourselves.
The medical stories give us the opportunity to allow Shaun to face these challenges.
But you cant keep doing that, right?Yeah.
There are certain things that may happen all the time.
What I liked about the [gamer] is that he has dealt with autistic people in his life.
I think the gaming world has more than its fair share of people with autism.
He embraces them and thinks they are great.
We already want to see Shaun beat the odds and succeed.
He becomes a cartoon character who is just getting everything right.
We want to play him fully dimensional with great strengths but he has weaknesses as well.
He will be wrong, just like we all would be.
Freddie Highmore is so believable.
We continue to talk regularly, and the directors contribute stuff.
But he is so fantastic.
He understands this character and he works very hard and is very insightful.
Hes a pleasure to work with.
Is there much more to say about Shauns autism?
When do you stop mining his condition for B-stories?It can never just be about the autism.
The condition is there, its part of who he is.
If its just about the autism, I think it will grow tiresome at some point.
Can you say what will happen to Shaun next?
Im assuming he just found another apartment.Well, hes gonna disappear.
He is gone and hasnt just rented another apartment.
He is gone and not sure what he wants to do.
He has to find those answers and he will go on a little journey.
Will Aaron learn to lay off?Aaron is who Aaron is.
He will learn he needs to lay off.
How effective he will be in that, is another question.
We suddenly became very aware.
We knew we were dealing with something important, but it became a much more sensitive issue.
A different eye was brought to it.
Will we see the harasser again?There will certainly be a shadow left by him.
How the heck is Jared going to get out of this?Attorneys will be involved.
Im an ex-lawyer thats where I go on everything.
Will you be doing more of that?I hope so.
I like the impact that these stories have on our characters home lives.
That has always been the sweet spot for me and what I always wanted to do.
At night, they have to give a shot to figure out what their place in the world is.
I like seeing both sides of that and how one impacts the other.
The Good Doctorwill return in January on ABC.
