‘The Good Doctor’ Adds Actor With Autism Kayla Cromer & Wavyy Jonez for Final Season
The Good Doctor is bringing two new doctors to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay star Kayla Cromer and Unsolved‘s Wavyy Jonez have been cast in Season 7, the ABC drama’s final season.
Cromer is the first person with autism to play an autistic character in a series regular role on American television. She crossed the milestone in Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, and her casting in The Good Doctor continues her history of bringing autism representation to TV. Jonez smashed on to the scene when he booked the role of The Notorious BIG (Biggie Smalls) in USA‘s limited series Unsolved opposite Josh Duhamel.
Cromer will be playing the role of Charlene “Charlie” Lukaitis and Jonez will be playing the role of Dominick “Dom” Hubank. Dom and Charlie are medical students on their first surgical rotations — eager to learn, but raw and untested in the fast-paced world of St. Bonaventure’s Hospital. Also a doctor with autism, Charlie idolizes Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). Charlie and Dom will recur throughout the final season and will make their debuts in Season 7 Episode 2, “Skin in the Game,” directed by Highmore. The Good Doctor Season 7 premieres February 20 at 10/9c on ABC.
Charlie is a third-year medical student, who’s excited both for this rotation and the chance to work with her hero, Dr. Shaun Murphy. Like Shaun, she has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and she has idolized him since she first saw the viral video of him saving a boy’s life at the San Jose airport. Empowered and energetic, her passion for surgery may only be matched by her love for Taylor Swift.
Dominick, also a third-year medical student, is a gentle giant who was hoping this surgical rotation was just a box to check on his way to become the family doctor in his underserved community. But this former football player learns he isn’t as tough as he appears when he faints at the sight of blood. Too big to fail, Dom must overcome his newly discovered hemophobia, and will need his peer and friend Charlie to do so.
The medical drama announced that Season 7 would be the show’s last on January 11. “Playing Dr. Shaun Murphy has been an immense privilege and one of the most remarkable and rewarding experiences of my life,” Highmore said in a statement at the time. “I will always be grateful to David, Liz, and Erin as well as the hugely talented — and lovely — cast, writers, and crew who made this show possible. Caring deeply is what got us here. Thank you to Sony and ABC, and to everyone who has watched along at home. With love from Vancouver… tequila, stat!”
In addition to Highmore, The Good Doctor stars Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick, Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park, Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim, Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo, Bria Samoné Henderson as Dr. Jordan Allen, Noah Galvin as Dr. Asher Wolke, and Chuku Modu as Dr. Jared Kalu.
David Shore and Liz Friedman are executive producers and co-showrunners. Daniel Dae Kim, Erin Gunn, Thomas L. Moran, David Hoselton, Peter Blake, Jessica Grasl, Garrett Lerner, Mike Listo, Freddie Highmore, David Kim and Sebastian Lee are also executive producers. The series is from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature.
The Good Doctor, Season 7 Premiere, Tuesday, February 20, 10/9c, ABC
