“Good Doctor” star Hill Harper is leaving the show to focus on the Senate campaign
“The Good Doctor” may be coming back for a seventh season, but one of the original stars won’t be there, as Hill Harper – who played Dr. for six seasons. Marcus Andrews – leaves the series to concentrate on his political career.
In a move that some may have expected, The good doctor star Hill Harper has announced that he is leaving the hit show to focus on his political ambitions. Hill played Dr. Marcus Andrews played, but he will no longer be there in the seventh season.
Harper announced back in July that he planned to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Hill will challenge U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) for Stabenow’s seat in next year’s election.
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“Hill Harper strongly believes that there is a crisis in American democracy – too often government works only for the rich and powerful while the rest of us struggle to find a voice,” the actor’s rep said TVLine.
“Hill is fully committed to fixing this problem and is running for the U.S. Senate as an active union member to give working people a greater voice in Congress.”
With Harper’s departure, there will only be two original cast members, series stars Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy and Richard Shiff’s Dr. Aaron Glassman, who was Shaun’s mentor.
However, Harper’s departure won’t come as a complete shock to viewers, as his character stepped down as president of the hospital in the season six finale, setting the stage for a seamless exit from the series.
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Before becoming an actor, Harper was a lawyer and received law degrees from Brown University and Harvard. He befriended Barack Obama during his years at Harvard, where he also honed his acting skills as a member of Boston’s Black Folks Theater Company.
During his campaign, he proudly announced that if elected, he would be the only U.S. senator who was a member of the SAG-AFTRA union. The actors’ union recently ended its strike, halting the return of scripted television and Harper’s departure from the field.
Before his original role on The good doctorHarper’s most famous series role was that of Dr. Sheldon Hawkes CSI:NY for nine years. He has appeared in several film and television roles since 1993.
The good doctor will return new night, Tuesday, February 10, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC with a shortened seventh season, expected to consist of approximately ten episodes.