The Bosses Aren’t Merely Caricatures on THE GOOD DOCTOR, and Christina Chang Relishes The Nuances

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Often with characters who are bosses in TV and movies, they’re either really good or really bad. Sometimes they’re so perfect and supportive that it belies believability. Other times, they’re downright evil, constantly making their employees’ lives miserable. But THE GOOD DOCTOR – which kicks off Season 5 on Monday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app – depicts bosses far more realistically than most other shows. And it also serves as a reminder that almost all bosses have bosses of their own. Christina Chang, who plays Dr. Audrey Lim, is the chief of surgery at the hospital that employs autistic lead character Dr. Shaun Murphy, played by Freddie Highmore. Chang agreed whole-heartedly with the observation that THE GOOD DOCTOR manages to present bosses as complex and flawed characters. “Yeah, I’m so glad that comes through,” Chang said in a virtual interview. “We have thought about that, and I did mention to the writers that I would be really interested in seeing more of Audrey’s flaws. And we know this boss has a boss, and that boss is played by an actor who’s okay … Richard Schiff, whatever … he’s all right.” Comedic sarcasm doesn’t always come through when it’s written, so let the record show that Chang was being exceedingly complimentary to Schiff, the legendary TV actor who plays Dr. Aaron Glassman  – the president of the hospital, and Dr. Lim’s boss – on THE GOOD DOCTOR. “(Schiff) is so good at playing the ‘I’m a boss and I’m flawed,’ so I know how to be a flawed boss, too – inspiration!” Chang said. “I think Dr. Lim is a fair and benevolent boss, but I wouldn’t be mad to have a couple more challenging things come down the pike for her in Season 5, because that’s what makes it interesting, right?” The stress of her position got to Dr. Lim in Season 4, and she went through a period of PTSD, which obviously was very timely because of COVID. “I felt incredibly honoured that they decided my character would get to deal with that, because it was important, and they knew it was important,” Chang said. “And it was important to me that we not just do one episode on it. We wanted to make sure that we were making it as realistic as possible for somebody in her position, a chief of surgery.” There are other inherent challenges facing Dr. Lim, and Chang always wants to tackle them head-on. “I mean, she’s already challenged by the fact that she’s a woman in this position, and I’ve said to the writers, don’t shy away from other characters questioning whether or not she knows what she’s doing – it’s okay,” Chang said. “I think that’s totally normal and probably happens every day in a hospital, right? Hill Harper’s character, Dr. (Marcus) Andrews, is kind of that person for her, and I think that’s great. I’m glad that our characters have that relationship.” As Season 5 of THE GOOD DOCTOR begins, Lea, played by Paige Spara, is feeling the pressure of planning both the engagement party and her upcoming wedding with Shaun, and there definitely are opportunities for those afore-mentioned “flawed bosses” to cause complications along the way. As for Chang’s Dr. Lim specifically, she’s at the crossroads of some big changes, both in her personal life, and also at the highest levels of the hospital administration. Chang said that producing a medical drama during a pandemic has given the cast and crew of THE GOOD DOCTOR a lot of perspective. “I don’t think I would say I have a better understanding of what (real medical professionals) are going through, because that would assume that me putting on a doctor’s coat, and pretending to play a doctor, means I know what it’s like – I don’t know what it’s like,” Chang stressed. “But all our cast members would agree that because we’re shooting the show during this time, the respect we have for doctors is just heightened. We can’t imagine what a stressful job it is. They’re putting their own lives on the line. We’re very aware of that, and we’re just in awe.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv