- The 57-year-old lawyer-turned-actor plays Dr. Marcus Andrews since the show’s inception in 2017
- Harper’s campaign spokesperson confirmed to TV Line that Harper will focus on his campaign and leave the show
- Harper is running as a Democrat and challenging U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow
Just four months after confirming his candidacy for a U.S. Senate race in Michigan, Hill Harper will not return to ABC’s The Good Doctor.
The 57-year-old lawyer-turned-actor plays Dr. Marcus Andrews since the show’s inception in 2017.
Harper’s campaign spokesman confirmed this TV line that Harper will focus on his campaign and leave the show.
“Hill Harper believes strongly that there is a crisis in American democracy – too often government only works for the rich and powerful, while the rest of us struggle to find a voice,” began the declaration.
“Hill is devoting his full-time efforts to solving them, and he is running for the U.S. Senate as an active union member to give working people more of a voice in Congress,” the statement concluded.
Not returning: Just four months after confirming his candidacy for a U.S. Senate race in Michigan, Hill Harper will not return to ABC’s The Good Doctor
Campaign: Harper’s campaign spokesman confirmed to TV Line that Harper will focus on his campaign and leave the show
If elected, Harper, who has been a member of the SAG-AFTRA union for decades, would be the only U.S. senator who is an active union member.
Harper is running as a Democrat and challenging U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Harper was one of only three actors to have starred in The Good Doctor since the show’s debut, behind leading man Freddie Highmore (Dr. Shaun Murphy) Richard Schiff (Dr. Richard Glassman).
Harper’s character Dr. Marcus Edwards was an attending surgeon specializing in plastic surgery at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, California.
He is named president of the hospital in season 2, although he is eventually fired and returns to work as an attending surgeon.
Marcus rises back up the ranks and is promoted to chief of surgery and later reinstated as hospital president in season 5.
It was also revealed in season 5 that he is dyslexic, with it being revealed in the season 6 finale that he had resigned as hospital president after ethical questions arose when he began a relationship with nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk).
There’s no indication yet if the upcoming seventh season premiere will offer any insight into what happened to his character after he resigned.
If elected: If elected, Harper, who has been a member of the SAG-AFTRA union for decades, would be the only United States senator who is an active union member
Actors: Harper was one of only three actors to have starred in The Good Doctor since the show’s debut, behind lead actor Freddie Highmore (Dr. Shaun Murphy) Richard Schiff (Dr. Richard Glassman)
Resigned: He was also revealed to be dyslexic in season 5, with it being revealed in the season 6 finale that he had resigned as hospital president after ethical questions arose when he began a relationship with nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk)
Harper graduated from Brown University in 1988 and from Harvard Law in 1992, where he befriended future President Barack Obama.
He began his acting career in 1993 with roles in Married With Children and Life Goes On, which led to roles in films such as Get On the Bus and He Got Game.
The actor landed his first major TV role in 2004, when he played Sheldon Hawkes in CSI: NY, which he played for all nine seasons across 197 episodes.
He would have significant arcs in Covert Affairs, Limitless, and Homeland before landing the role of The Good Doctor in 2017.
ABC has already announced that season 7 of The Good Doctor will debut on Tuesday, February 20.