ABC's 'The Good Doctor' Almost Had An Asian Lead, Producer Daniel Dae Kim Says

The Good Doctor almost looked completely different.

Daniel Dae Kim, who is a producer on the series, opened up about the original plan for the show in his interview with Vulture and shared that the plan was for an Asian lead.

“I wanted an Asian lead,” Daniel revealed. “The first time we developed it, it was with an Asian lead. And the second time, when [David] Shore came aboard, we had a conversation about it.”

Click inside to see why the Asian lead didn’t happen…

He went on, explaining that “when you start working with a showrunner, it has to be a proper meeting of the minds because he’s the one that’ll be running the show every day. And so he had to have a level of comfort with it. I’m not going to say he was the one that wanted a white lead, but I will say that it became less clear to him how an Asian lead would work.”

“And then the studio came in with Freddie Highmore, whom we both absolutely loved. And so it shifted the focus to creating a diverse ensemble.”

The show currently stars Freddie, alongside Hill Harper, Richard Schiff, Antonia Thomas, Paige Spara, Christina Chang, Fiona Gubelmann, and Will Yun Lee.

Daniel continued, saying that the reality is that he only has “real control” as a producer on a project at the beginning.

“I have ownership of the project only until a showrunner comes aboard. And then, at that point, the power dynamic shifts,” he shared. “And then when your lead actor comes aboard, the power dynamic shifts again. And then when the ratings come, the power dynamic shifts again because there’s a studio and network involved.”

Daniel adds that while he did compromise on the Asian lead, he says that “we were so close to getting a show made, and ultimately that is the goal. You can develop every show you want, but if none of them ever see the light of day, what’s the point?”

In another part of the interview, Daniel opened up about his time on Lost…