BEVERLY HILLS: Freddie Highmore sees his move from “Bates Motel” to “The Good Doctor” as a refreshing change.
“It’s nice to save people after years of killing them,” Highmore said, dryly, of the surgeon he plays in the upcoming ABC drama. He portrayed an adolescent Norman Bates On “Bates Motel,” A&E’s prequel to the classic thriller “Psycho.”
Highmore’s Dr. Shaun Murphy, who has autism and savant syndrome, joins a hospital’s prestigious surgical unit despite staff bias and skepticism. Richard Schiff (“The West Wing“) co-stars as his advocate and mentor.
The series is from David Shore, who produced the medical drama “House,” and actor Daniel Dae Kim of “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O.”
During a Q&A with TV critics Sunday, Shore acknowledged past speculation about whether Dr. Gregory House, played by Hugh Laurie, was on the autism spectrum.
But the cynical House and the innocent Murphy couldn’t be more different, Shore said. Both question the status quo, he said, asking, “Why do we do the things we do?”
Kim, who has added producing to his career portfolio, said he may make an appearance on “The Good Doctor,” a show he decided to bring to American TV after seeing the South Korean version. For now, he’s content being behind the scenes and observing a cast that he said inspires him.
His seven seasons as Chin Ho Kelly on “Hawaii Five-O” ended after a contract dispute. In a Facebook post in July, the South Korean-born Kim said that the “path to equality is rarely easy,” without elaborating.
Asked about the circumstances of his exit Sunday, he called the crime drama an important part of his life and expressed gratitude to CBS.
“That said, it’s possible to be grateful for the opportunity, and respectful of the colleagues and the people that I worked with, and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth,” Kim added. “And all good things come to an end.”
During a CBS panel with the Television Critics Association last week, CBS Entertainment executive Kelly Kahl said the exit of Kim and co-star Grace Park represented a “business transaction,” with the actors seeking bigger contracts than the network was offering.
The pair reportedly sought parity with stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan.
Actor makes shift from TV’s Norman Bates to ‘Good Doctor’
Actor makes shift from TV’s Norman Bates to ‘Good Doctor’
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
