Why The Good Doctor’s Freddie Highmore Looks So Familiar: See His Top Movies and Shows Before Playing Shaun

Freddie Highmore’s Movies and TV Shows

He may be known as Dr. Shaun Murphy on The Good Doctor, but Freddie Highmore’s movies and TV shows prove that he had a long career before he ever started scrubbing in at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. 

Highmore has starred in more than 30 movies and TV shows, according to IMDb. Along with The Good Doctor, Highmore’s credits also include movies he’s filmed as a child star, such as Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and August Rush, as well as his work as an adult, such as AMC’s Bates Motel. 

In an interview with The Evening Standard, Highmore — who was the first child client of talent agent Sue Latimer, who also represents stars like Daniel Radcliff — explained how he balanced his acting career while still maintaining a childhood. “I think the distance from [Hollywood] as well with school and university allows you to see the illusions or see through them more so than if that’s your reality,” he said. “But I think it also just helps you grow as an actor, too,” he said. “If your only experiences are growing up on sets, then it gets to a point where you don’t have anything to draw on in terms of real-life experience to portray these characters.”

If you want more of Dr. Murphy, check out our list below on Freddie Highmore’s movies and TV shows and what he starred in before playing one of primetime television’s most innovative doctors. 

Finding Neverland (2004)

Freddie Highmore’s breakout role as a child star was as Peter Llewelyn Davies in 2004’s Finding Neverland. He was nine years old at the time he was cast.

The film, which also starred Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman, is based  on the life of author J.M. Barrie, who created Peter Pan, and his family who inspired the character. Highmore played Peter, the middle of Barrie’s five sons. The film, which was noinated for an Oscar in the Best Picture cateegory in 2005, is based on the 1998 play, The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee, 

Depp commended Highmore’s acting talent in an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the time. “When there were scenes with Freddie, Kate and I just stood back and let him go. It’s unbelievably compelling,” he said. Winslet added, “He has the most terrifying instincts, they’re just bang-on. And he has no idea that he has that.”

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

One of Freddie Highmore’s first leading roles was Charlie Bucket in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He was 12 years old at the time he was cast.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory followed Charlie, a young boy, who won a contest along with four other children and is led on a tour by owner Willy Wonka on a tour of his chocolate factory. The film, which was directed by Tim Burton, is based on the 1964 novel of the same name. The movie also saw Highmore reunite with Johnny Depp, who plays Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also played Highmore’s father in Finding Neverland. 

August Rush (2007)

Freddie Highmore played Evan Taylor/”August Rush” in 2007’s August Rush.

The movie followed Evan, a 10-year-old musical prodigy living in an orphanage who runs away to New York City. The film sees Evan start to unravel the mystery around who he is, as the rounds and rhytm he hears throughout his journey culminate into a major instrumental composition. As Evan explores New York City, viewers also see his parents, Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) search for him.

August Rush was also Highmore’s first movie with an American accent. He told Collider in 2008 about how he practices an American accent. “I try and talk in it as much as possible, so it becomes second nature. You know it’s important,” he said. “You don’t want to have to worry about real intrusive R’s and the vowel sounds. You want to just concentrate on the emotions and the important side of the character.”

Bates Motel (2013 – 2017)

Freddie Highmore’s first leading role in a television series was as Norman Bates in AMC’s Bates Motel, which ran for five seasons from 2013 to 2017.

The series wa described as a “contemporary prequel” to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie Psycho, which was based on Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name. It followed Norman and his mother, Norma, prior to the events in the film as Norma struggles with the death of her husband and purchases the Seafairer motel in a coastal town in Oregon so she and her son, Norman, can have a new life. 

The Good Doctor (2017 – Present)

To primetime fans, Freddie Highmore’s best-known role is as Dr. Shaun Murphy in ABC’s TV series The Good Doctor, which premiered in 2017. 

The procedural medical drama, which is based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, follows Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, who relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, where his near-photographic recall and ability to note minute changes and details prove useful to the hospital’s medical team. 

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2019, Highmore confirmed that he does not have autism but researched by talking to people in his personal life with the condition and watching documentaries on autism. The Good Doctor also hired autism consultant Melissa Reiner to make sure that the show’s portrayal of the condition was accurate. “There are people in my personal life who have autism. It was a condition I was aware of. I [read a lot],” Highmore said. “I saw a brilliant documentary on Netflix called Autism in Love, which is great because it focuses on the most human, deepest emotion that we may feel, which is being in love.”

Highmore also explained how his research on autism informed Shaun’s mannerisms in The Good Doctor. “The way Shaun holds his hands is something that makes him stand out. For me, that came from two places. Kids with autism [used to be] encouraged to clasp their hands together in order not to stim, [a term describing repetitive movements or sounds]. It’s called ‘quiet hands,'” he told The Los Angeles Times. He continued, “Surgeons, in an operating room, consider the front of the body as sterile and often stand in this position [he holds his hands in front of him and above his waist] to keep their hands sterile. So that particular mannerism is sort of half something that’s a trauma, that’s been forced upon him and is also something that’s natural for surgeons to do, so there’s a comfort there too.”

Highmore also told The Los Angeles Times about The Good Doctor creator David Shore’s pitch for the show and how Shaun’s autism would be portrayed from the start. “We spoke mostly about Shaun and the development of his character over time. People who aren’t aware of autism in a personal way or haven’t watched the show sometimes say, ‘How will Shaun change? He’ll always have autism. What’s his arc going to be?'” he said. “So one of the things we discussed early on is, ‘Yes, he’ll always have autism. But he’s going to change continuously as an individual as he adapts to this new world that he finds himself in.’ That was exciting to me: This individual, regardless of whether or not he’s on the spectrum, is going on a journey as a character.”