Freddie Highmore apologizes even when he doesn’t need to. His network bosses must be thrilled.
FREDDIE HIGHMORE, slight, pale, well-mannered, and low-key English, is, at 26, so earnest that he seems to be from another, less desperately self-branded time. I meet him at the Essex House hotel on May 15, the morning of the ABC “upfronts” at Lincoln Center, where the network showcases its programming to advertisers and the press. This year’s festivities focus, imprudently in retrospect, on Roseanne Barr and the network’s “heartland strategy.” That strategy includes Highmore’s feel-good show, The Good Doctor, which premiered last fall to ratings nearly as high as Roseanne’s. We sit in the window, and he orders a decaf and apologizes, first, for being in sweatpants and, later, for being the British star of a hit American TV show—“You thought you’d gotten rid of us and then, like, here we come again. Sorry.”
Two weeks later, on May 29, Barr would upend ABC’s agenda by comparing former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to an ape on Twitter, prompting the network to cancel her show and, with it, an estimated $60 million in ad revenue for next season, and in the process making its former No. 2 show its new No. 1. In other words, it’s now up to Highmore and The Good Doctor to come to the rescue—stat.
Esta historia es de la edición June 11, 2018 de New York magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 11, 2018 de New York magazine.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Unmasking Diddy
The rap mogul shook off decades of rumored bad behavior with wholesome PR revamps. Now the allegations against him are his legacy.
Staging Sufjan
How playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury turned a classic indie-rock album into a Justin Peck-choreographed dance piece that's now Broadway bound.
Justin Kuritzkes Serves an Ace
With his first movie script for the erotic tennis drama Challengers, he has gone from struggling playwright to in-demand screenwriter.
To Brooklyn, by Way of Paris and Rome
A whirlwind week with Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri as she stages the brand's first New York runway show in a decade.
A Burlesque Family at Home
Showbiz couple Angie Pontani and Brian Newman’s high-spirited Marine Park house.
A Bistro With Shish Barak
Huda impressively balances its many influences.
THE 'DEBATE ME BRO
Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.
THE MAN WHO GOSSIPED TOO MUCH
For almost two decades, JOHN NELSON anonymously published blind items skewering the Hollywood elite on the blog CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS. Then his identity was revealed in the midst of a messy affair.
TODD BLANCHE IS A SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT LAWYER. AND HE'S ON TRACK TO KEEP HIS CLIENT OUT OF JAIL UNTIL THE ELECTION. IN DEFENSE OF TRUMP
TODD BLANCHE WAS looking for his man. Or it could be a woman, but probably not.
Self: Emma Alpern
In Outer Space Why do so many women believe their bodies are controlled by the moon?