In Season 6, there is a great deal of drama, including Chang’s character Dr. Audrey Lim grappling with life in a wheelchair following a devastating attack in the hospital and a surgery performed by Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) that left her partially paralyzed. Chang says she has learned a great deal about her physical limitations and myriad of emotions this season and appreciates the hands-on help from the show’s writers, creator David Shore and technical advisors. She noted that she and her co-stars appreciate what the show has done to inform, educate and enlighten its viewers on neurodivergence. “I think what the show has done, and not just with autism but in any way, somebody feels challenged, is that it has provided hope,” Chang exclusively tells Parade.com. “We’ve shown that when you have a community around you, of coworkers or friends and family, that you’re able to achieve almost if not all of, your goals,” she continues. “When we talk about things out loud and people hear that and respond to that we realize that we are not as isolated as we sometimes feel.” Read on for Christina Chang’s affection for Freddie Highmore, her love for being on The Good Doctor for six seasons, and how she is handling her character’s physical and emotional challenges stemming from her recent disability.
Please talk about the milestone 100th episode.
Christina Chang: I think it’s pretty surreal. It’s so rare to reach this number. It’s also a marker of how long we’ve been doing it. We all looked at one another incredulously because we feel so grateful to be here. Also, we just can’t believe we’ve done that many. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that we’ve been able to do this for this long, something that we love to do, and we have a fanbase and viewers that stick with us and are still loyal and have been for six seasons now; it’s an incredible feeling.
Can you tease for us what you are looking forward to for the rest of the season?
In the 100th episode, Lim does meet somebody new. I think viewers might be interested in seeing this new character who enters Lim’s life, and see how they affect her.
Talk about insights into Dr. Lim and the emotional and physical aspects of playing somebody not only in a wheelchair but an accomplished surgeon whose life has been turned upside down.
I would say from Dr. Lim’s perspective everything has shifted. She went from being a physical athlete who would ride motorcycles, go rock climbing and bungee jump—a clear risk-taking adrenaline junkie—to someone who is now she’s bound to this wheelchair. It’s changed her life outside of the hospital, and it’s changed her life in the hospital and the way she conducts surgeries. Obviously, it has altered the way that she feels that she’s being perceived, and that’s getting in her way. She’s navigating completely new terrain.
As an actor, how difficult was it to learn to be wheelchair-dependent?
I worked with a fantastic person who is an actual wheelchair user himself and helps people transition from walking to using a wheelchair, whether it’s through an illness or injury. He was fantastic in allowing me to find my own way in being a wheelchair user on the screen, and that was very helpful. I’m very grateful to him. Jeff Weddell/ABC
What are a couple of things that you learned from him that you might not have thought of about everything—from the emotional to the way you move?
I think one of the things that in discussing with him when he works in the rehab with everybody, he said everybody moves at their own pace and [he] allows them to find their own way. What he said was a lot of the people that come to him end up having their own—they sort of get into the wheelchair at their own pace. He doesn’t show them unless they ask, there is no strict routine or structure to the way he helps them move about their space or learn to use the wheelchair. He lets them figure out the way they want to use it and how they navigate in space. I don’t think I ever thought of it that way. I think I sort of always thought somebody uses it in one way and that’s it.
What was your reaction to Dr. Lim going on the date and being rejected by a guy who she thought had feelings for her?
That was a really interesting scene to shoot actually, Daniel Dae Kim did a lovely job directing. That particular story was written based on several experiences that a wheelchair user in our writers’ room had. It’s experiencing [something] that he and his friends have experienced—this idea that when you’re in a wheelchair everybody’s nice to you, of course. But then when it comes down to it, are they seeing you as a person who has a sexual or sensual quality as an adult, somebody that you could date, somebody that you could be in a relationship with? When this writer first got into his wheelchair due to an accident, I think that was part of his journey. He’s very happily married with children now, but when he first started that was an interesting journey to experience the way others perceived him or did not perceive him.
The audience wants Shaun Murphy to succeed, so Dr. Lim’s justified anger and resentment at him kind of makes them go, “Well, he did save Dr. Lim’s life.”
I don’t think it was that black and white for some people. I think there were many viewers who weren’t happy with Lim being upset with him. I think it’s such fertile ground to be able to explore that because I think you can be grateful that you’re alive and also be frustrated about the situation. You’re allowed to grieve. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Jeff Weddell/ABC I think that’s what Lim is doing, as she’s grieving the life she used to have. She doesn’t always have to be right. I think it’s okay for our characters to make mistakes. I don’t necessarily think being frustrated with Shaun is a mistake, either.
The series and Shaun’s character have gone a long way to dispel stereotypes and celebrate differences instead of judging people for them.
I agree. It’s saying that we’re all lovable. I think what happened before was we’re afraid of the things that we don’t know very much about. I think that that is what our show has helped do, is educate and inform or enlighten. Obviously, Shaun Murphy, although he is fictional and portrays a particular type of savant or autistic person, he is still human. It’s a terrible thing to have to point out, but you know—I have friends with children of all ages, who are on different parts of the spectrum. I have gone through years of tears with them and hair-tearing frustration, so it has meant a lot to be able to be a part of this. How much thought did you give to whether or not Dr. Lim should have the surgery? Who wouldn’t want to walk again and resume most of their life before this, but then do the risks outweigh the potential benefits? And as you’re playing those scenes are you thinking about what if this was me? I’m different from Lim in several ways and similar in some ways. I think, especially the date that you brought up, that’s what propelled her to consider this. But we’ll see whether she accepts the second surgery in the future or not. It does seem like she would jump at the chance to do it, but also the risks are something that she can’t ignore. I have to say I understand her trepidation. I think wanting to get out of the chair is, of course, super enticing. But does the risk outweigh the reward? I don’t know. I have to say I might be hesitant at first, as well.
How did the cast celebrate the 100th episode?
It was a great deal of fun. We took some time out of a shooting day to celebrate with a lot of the producers and the showrunners and our cast and crew. It was a nice way to pause and acknowledge one another and congratulate each other. But more really the showrunners for creating this and the crew, who are here 12 to 13 hours a day, five days a week, and are truly the backbone of the show. Jeff Weddell/ABC It was a really nice way to thank them, as well. Because you don’t get to 100 episodes without your crew. And you also don’t get to 100 episodes without your fans, so we just sort of took in all of that. It was really nice.
And you had cake.
We had cake; it was tasty. We took pictures, and we hugged; it was great.
Why do you think The Good Doctor resonates so much with its fans?
It doesn’t matter how divisive or what political views or what someone’s faith is, this definitely is a show that brings together people no matter their culture, or age. It spans different age groups. I’ve had grandparents and I’ve had teenagers watch and give me feedback. They’re all different colors, they come from different faith bases, and they definitely come from a different voting base from one another, and yet this is one thing that they are able to discuss or that we are able to discuss without it being a problem. We have in common our love for Shaun Murphy and we root for his success in love and at work. The 100th episode of ABC’s The Good Doctor airs on Monday, Nov. 21, at 10 p.m. ET. The show streams on Hulu the next day. Next, get to know The Good Doctor star Freddie Highmore’s wife.
