Tamlyn Tomita – The Good Doctor

By starrymag | March 12, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Q) Do you have any teases for the final episodes of “The Good Doctor’s” first season?

 

A) No, are you kidding me? You can’t ask me that! We’ve got to make sure that our viewers keep watching! It’ll touch you and it’ll make you think because there are issues that deal with our characters and especially Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff). There are issues that make you think about the situations that you’ll find all of us in and how we react. The writers did an incredible job and I hope that the viewers will be happy.

 

Q) What has been your favorite episode to film so far?

 

A) My favorite episode, seriously, is probably the pilot because of how we were all able to coalesce and assemble as a team, in terms of the cast and the writing team David Shore and our director Seth Gordon. It was a really very special time. The first time is always the most memorable. We always go back to how much fun we had, all of the uncertainty but as well as the foresight that we hope that it will go on to a season pickup by ABC. And we were blessed with that incredible fact in the summer and here we are at the end of season one. It’s been a wonderful journey.

 

Q) What initially drew you to the pilot script?

 

A) The fascination of what it meant to work with a person who is on the autistic spectrum as well as possessing savant syndrome and how that person would fit into a neurotypical slash normal work environment, how people react and how people adjust and how people change as well as that main character learning how to adjust and change. This is all the kind of interactions between these characters that not only do we learn from each other, but we also inspire each other to be better communicators, better coworkers, become better people.

 

Q) What do you feel is the biggest contributing factor to the show’s fast popularity?

 

A) Not only does it provide the drama of medical circumstances, life and death situations, taking care of people, literally in the medical field, but it’s about the relationship of Dr. Murphy with his coworkers. We focus a lot with Dr. Aaron Glassman because he is the center. He is the one responsible for bringing him along to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. How he reacts to his new teammates, with his new patients and how people learn how to look at the world with a specific set of eyes, which is Dr. Shaun Murphy. It’s super unique, it’s super interesting and it’s super compelling. I think Freddie Highmore does a spectacular job embodying all of those qualities.

 

Q) Did you have any prior experience with any autistic people prior to joining the show?

 

A) Yes, I have some friends who have autistic children. But I can honestly say that I haven’t had relationships with an autistic adult. That inexperience helped me with the character of Allegra Aoki because I didn’t have any experience with autistic adults.

 

Q) Since the series has gotten a Season Two, are there any storylines you’d like to see your character have next season?

 

A) It’s not my job. It’s not my strength to think about it. I’m just glad that these writers are creative enough to put up stories that are unthinkable and unusual, but they are also able to put up stories that are quite commonplace and normal that people get to see in their daily life and it’s such unusual to see somebody who has a certain limitation, or disability, or disease or an affliction that we’ve never heard of. I think the balance of the unusualness along with the usualness and the normality is what draws people in and I think that as long as we continue that path, as well as developing the relationship between characters, I think we’ve got a good chance of going on to season two and doing well with it.

 

Q) Who would you like to see as a guest star next season?

 

A) I think the obvious answer is everybody wants to see Daniel Dae Kim because he is the captain of our ship. He’s the one on it in alliance with David Shore. I think I would love to see Daniel Dae Kim, but there’s just a whole myriad of actors we would love to see. I’m sure Richard Schiff would like to bring any of his “The West Wing” cohorts and I’m sure that Freddie would love to bring in any of his movie costars, the wonderful actors he was able to go against. I think everyone thinks automatically Freddie Highmore and Johnny Depp so maybe that’s a shot out in the dark. I think there’s so many talented young as well as older actors out there we’d love to see and I think “The Good Doctor” would be a great thing for us to showcase them.

 

Q) As a Japanese actress, what has been your biggest challenge that you have faced in your career?

 

A) I need to correct you, because it’s an American actress of Japanese descent, because when people read or people hear “Japanese” they think I’m from Japan. So, I need to correct you on that because it’s just a learning curve. With a face like mine, that’s what we need to continually educate and with a good heart and with a smile because I’m like any girl who grew up in the states, elementary, junior high school or what they call middle school, high school, university. Fifty percent of the time people will think I’m from somewhere else and, excuse me, can you listen to my English? I’m totally like you. I grew up on Jack-In-The-Box. There’s more commonality so when I present myself in an audition group or to a writer or to a director, I need to make sure that they see me as an all-American girl. That can be a hurdle, but once I get over that hurdle and have the privilege of being presented a TV show, a film or a theater piece, I get to reach out to people who can see me for the character I am and not just what I look like. I think that’s what the power is of film, television and stage. It’s that we get to impact people and tell stories that really kind of reveal that we’re kind of all alike. That’s what’s been my joy. That’s what’s been my frustration, but that’s been my ultimate satisfaction in telling these stories.

 

Q) What have been some of your favorite projects to be a part of in your career?

 

A) It sounds super cheesy, like I’m copping out, but if you go down my resume, I can tell you something that was really special for each one. I can’t pick a favorite because I have gained so much from each of those projects, even if it’s just a little incline, if it’s a friendship, if it’s a delight in learning something. I can honestly say that we had that time, this is where I did that, this is where I learned that, this is where I became friends with so and so. In terms of being approached by people on the street or who have happened to watch my work, that’s where I get a lot of joy and a lot of blessings too because people have enjoyed watching me. That’s what I’m very thankful for.

 

Q) Are there any other upcoming projects that you’re currently working on?

 

A) I can tell you about three of them. I don’t think it’s streaming yet, it should be any minute now, but I’m on “Man In The High Castle” Season Three on Amazon. It should be streaming anytime soon. I’d also like to give a shout out to two short films that I’m in. One is called The Ningyo and it’s written and directed by Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma. It’s a science fiction, supernatural story about artifacts and it’s won several sci-fi short film festivals so far and I think it’s on Vimeo or else you can Google it. It was a delightful, wonderful, visually striking short film and I think it’s going to go into feature film length. The next one is another short film by Cameo Wood, a young woman film director who assembled an all-women team (nearly an all-women team) in a film called Real Artists. I costar along the actress Tiffany Hines and it’s about artificial intelligence and the art of filmmaking. That’s won a lot of shorts awards, too. I think it’s currently on the short film festival circuit. If you Google that, I think you can find access to viewing that as well.