Alex Plank in this weeks "The Good Doctor"

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Just watched the episode Alex , how much did you and Vared have to exaggerate traits and was it easy ?

Congratulations, Alex. You were great in that preview scene and I hope to see the entire episode soon.

I have never seen this series, but these quotes speak so clearly to my own experience that I'm welling up.
Hats off to consultant Melissa Reiner, as well.

Whoops I don't get much viewing time.

Very interesting. Congratulations to Alex. I'm glad I saw this thread. With my lousy recognition ability I probably would not have recognized him.

Well it’s acting and we weren’t playing ourselves. I guess I would say it was a challenging episode to make. I certainly had days where I arrived on set and had to work nonstop because I was in every scene

My trailer was really nice so I enjoyed that when I could. But as I said, i was mainly on set when I was there.

I think working as a consultant on set of the bridge on FX for two years worked well in my favor because you’re expected to be pretty experienced on a set like that. Most other guest stars have been on dozens or hundreds of shows and many are series regulars and recognizable names.

I was comfortable on set even though this was only my third episode of a tv show as an actor and it was my very first guest star role (on the bridge I was just a costar and had only a few lines).

Thanks for answering , I realise now it was a bit of weird question.

I've worked the other side of the camera and always found it difficult when I had to go on set.

My GF & I have watched all episodes but it was that episode that my GF said to me , If there was ever any doubt that you had ASD this episode would of convinced her.

Hope you get many more roles.

It is amazing to me how fast representation has gotten better. In most cases, just a few short years ago the networks were too scared to even mention a character was autistic. Now we have autistic lead characters with jobs, autistic characters in relationships, autistic actors. While the characters are functional, like in this episode they do not function typically. This is important.

IMHO the biggest hurdle we have yet to overcome is having an autistic character that does not have a savant-like ability and can not rattle off facts upon request.


Thank you to Alex and all the autistics who put themselves out there to consult and act.


*****SPOILERS****SPOILERS****
Whose idea was it for the "Rain Man" reference (Alex's character had to be at home at 12 every day to watch Judge Judy). I really got a kick out of that.

Are you sure? I was there and it seemed like you had to pay ... or open a "free initial subscription" which I am unwilling to do.

you have to wait until a week after it airs which I guess is monday

I asked the writer if that was a rain man reference (in rain man he watches Judge Wapner) and he told me it wasn't, it just happened to be one of the few shows that air at noon.

How soon was that episode shot? I assume it was sometime in 2018. How long did it take to film that whole episode or all your scenes?

And I know getting into the acting business is hard and many don't make it that far and appearing in a feature film or even as a guest star or even getting a part is hard.

My wife watches the Good doctor for the very reasons you outline here.
BUT, and unfortunately there is always that "But".... Its not realistic at all in the context Shaun's character would never have been allowed to get a medical qualification let alone practice surgery in an emergency ward.

Let's start with his self-evident lack of social skills. To be considered a capable doctor you have to demonstrate good communication skills with both colleagues and patients. Shaun clearly lacks that ability. He wouldn't get past a hospital interview panel.

I also observe that Shaun's character is easily triggered during surgery, it only has to happen once and he would be considered a high risk. The hospital wouldn't want to risk going bankrupt following litigation from a family of patient potentially killed by Shaun (particularly if a court found that the hospital was aware of the risk posed by Shaun's autism)

On the other hand it's nice that Shaun's amazing abilities (linked to his autism) are highlighted in the series and the public are made aware of the potential of people with autism to the workforce. It does open up possibilities despite the fictional nature of the character which is as likely as a Jedi knight coming to earth to work as a doctor (yes folks it's fiction at the end of the day not real life).

My in laws also watch this show and I told my MIL how in real life, there is no way someone severe as Shaun would be able to work in that field. You need to act normal and pass as normal and not be that socially impaired to keep that job. But this is a TV show so it's not meant to be realistic so just see it as a fantasy. It would be so nice if someone severe as Shaun could actually work and keep their job despite their impairment and social skills not being so important for work.

If it's mean't to be fantasy then how is this different to Rainman in terms of accurately depicting an autistic person to the mainstream population? Even Claire Dane's depiction of Temple Grandin's life is not really representative of every autistic person (although it's at least based on fact) given not every autistic person ends up working as professor at an American University or (even worse) becomes a "super hero" like Ben Affleck's character in "the Accountant".

I think this is a much better movie to depict autism to the general public
https://www.lovinglamppostsmovie.com/
Todd Drezner is a wonderful speaker and allows the viewer to objectively demonstrate how autism impacts on his son and the extended family (yes the parents are the forgotten heroes...Sorry Alex).

I watched "The Good Doctor" last night you were great Alex.

Congrats, Alex. Nice to see you doing fun things in your career. I hadn't realized you were going to be on the show, but I recognized you from photos and videos here. The characters were pretty interesting, although not very much like my ASD son (he isn't as flat and matter of fact as the characters). Spectrum, no two people are alike and all that, right? Really enjoyed the episode.