The Good Doctor Cast Teases a 'Surprising' End to the Series Finale: There Won't Be 'a Dry Eye in the House' (Exclusive)

Freddie Highmore is late, but he has a very good excuse.

The actor, 32, jumped on the day to direct one of the Good doctor‘with the last episodes because the director is sick. When Highmore, dressed in a blue plaid shirt and slacks, finally sits down with PEOPLE on the Vancouver set of San Jose St. Hospital. Bonaventure, the hallways, which normally bustle with bustling activity while the cameras are on, are unusually quiet.

He and his cast will soon do a table read for the finale, but for Highmore, the end of the ABC medical drama in a few weeks is not yet on the cards.

“It probably won’t really sink in until it’s finally finished and they start taking the sledgehammer to the set,” he admits.

Highmore, who plays brilliant surgeon Shaun Murphy, will be calling it quits for good after seven seasons when the series finale airs on Tuesday, May 21. The episode will be a “satisfying” send-off, he teases.

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Freddie Highmore (left) and Christina Chang in ‘The Good Doctor’.

ABC/Jeff Weddell

“It’s going to be a surprise ending, but also the kind of ending that all good finales have: it reminds us of the beginning and ties together this journey that Shaun and all of our characters have been on,” continues Highmore. “It will feel like we’ve kind of come full circle, but at the same time we’re sending our characters into the future.”

From Good doctor debuted in September 2017, viewers got to know (and love) the gifted surgeons at San Jose St. Bonaventure, cheering their victories and sympathizing with their struggles. Lives are lost on screen, love blossoms, and life lessons are learned along the way, creating compelling drama for viewers and meaningful material for the show’s cast.

So it’s no surprise that the cast rules Good doctor homestretch with mixed emotions. For Fiona Gubelmann, who portrays Dr. Morgan Reznick, filming these final episodes was “very surreal.”

“Now when things start coming up and you’re like, ‘Oh, this is the last time I’m doing this, or this is the last time I’m doing that,’ you start to get emotional,” Gubelmann, 44, says.

During the table read a week earlier, her co-star Will Yun Lee, who plays her on-screen partner Dr. Alex Park, was overcome with emotion.

“Will started crying, he broke down, and then I choked,” she says, adding, “I couldn’t keep reading the chart. I had to leave, because we’re doing them on Zoom, so I had to log out because I was like, ‘I can’t stop crying.'”

Good doctor The cast says goodbye with nostalgic reviews and behind-the-scenes photos of the series finale

Will Yun Lee (left) and Fiona Gubelmann in ‘The Good Doctor’.

Disney/Jeff Weddell

Lee, for his part, admits he’s still working Good doctor the last season it was “bittersweet”. “We’ve seen a lot of our kids grow up on this set and go from here to here,” he says. “It is [been] a good part of our lives.”

While Lee’s character has come a long way since the 53-year-old actor became a series regular in season two — his character now shares adopted daughter Eden with Morgan, for example — Good doctor he also touched on very personal issues. Lee’s son Cash, who he shares with wife Jennifer Birmingham Lee, suffered a stroke when he was just 3 years old, which required frequent visits to the hospital and consultations with doctors as they searched for the cause.

The toddler, who suffered a second stroke seven months later, was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called moyamoya disease and required double brain bypass surgery. Fortunately, the procedure was successful, and Cash’s health journey became the inspiration for the sixth season episode “Hard Heart”.

“I thought it was an important message, because [moyamoya disease] is one of the most frequently misdiagnosed diseases,” he explains. “Before I left this show, I felt like I owed it to all the doctors who took care of my son to get that message out.”

Good doctor end on ABC after 7 seasons: ‘It’s time to say goodbye’

Bria Henderson in ‘The Good Doctor’.

Disney/Jeff Weddell

After a recurring role in Season 4, Bria Henderson became a series regular the following season. The actress, 31, recalls the moment she had the initial breakdown of her character Dr. Jordan Allen.

“The one thing that stood out was that she was full and proud and confident and loved herself,” he remembers. “I don’t get much [character] breakdowns like that, especially being dark-skinned, a big actress… Me representing a marginalized community and then having a breakdown like that, I’m starting to see a change in what TV wants to put out there, that suits me.”

Christina Chang says she will miss playing Dr. Audrey Lim, who rose to president of San Jose St. Hospital. Bonaventure along with Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff). Audrey also had to overcome difficult personal challenges, including surviving an attack in the Season 5 finale that left her temporarily paralyzed.

“What I really like about Dr. Lim is that she easily comes to be honest. I think he can step back and look at something a little more objectively than I do. I’m kind of constantly working on that part and I love it. I’ll take that with me so I can look at everything a little more objectively and have as much perspective as I can,” says Chang, 52, who adds that there won’t be “a dry eye in the house” after viewers see the finale.

‘The Good Doctor’ Star Will Yun Lee Opens Up About His Son’s Rare Condition and ‘Warrior Spirit’

Paige Spara (left) and Freddie Highmore in ‘The Good Doctor’.

ABC/Jeff Weddell

Looking back on the show’s seven seasons, Highmore is incredibly proud of how Good doctor portrayed Shaun’s autism in a nuanced and respectful way. Shaun’s personal and professional journey is one of the strengths of the medical drama.

“If there’s one thing that I hope the show has done, I hope that in some small, tiny way it’s helped to challenge stereotypes, to change people’s perception of autism,” he explains. “That would be the thing that certainly makes me the proudest, and that was always our goal and intention.”

Although Highmore says it will be hard to say goodbye to his character, parts of him will always remain.

“He is so hopeful and optimistic,” he adds. “I feel like that’s what people have associated with him over the years, that he sees the good in people. It reminds you that even when we’re different — we’re all really more the same than different — and I think it’s hopefully made me a better person.”

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good doctor’The series finale airs Tuesday, May 21, at 10:00 PM ET on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu the following day.

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