'The Good Doctor' star says season 2 shows his character with autism growing in ability to connect

Freddie Highmore, who plays a young star surgeon with autism on "The Good Doctor," said the second season shows his character growing in his ability to connect with other people.

Highmore joined "Good Morning America" on Friday ahead of the season two premiere and revealed that he flexed a new creative muscle in trying his hand at writing for the first episode.

"I was sent a text saying, 'I think I'll have you write the first episode of the season,'" Highmore recalled of the initial ask from showrunner David Shore. "I said, 'Well, that would be great if that's going to happen,' and then it ended up happening."

"Being in the writer's room I always feel like defending Shawn. I feel like, 'No, don't put him through that. Why don't they make it easier for him?' Which isn't great dramatically," he admitted, laughing.

The show has a consultant about Highmore's character who "is on board full-time" to help bring an extra level of depth for the audience, the actor said.

"David, myself and everyone on the show just wanted to make sure primarily that we told this story as authentically as possible," Highmore said.

In that same regard, he said his character's journey of growth and authentic connections to others is unlike anything from season one.

"I think this season the journey for Shawn is about how he's growing as a person and how he is able to perhaps connect with people in a way that we haven't seen before," he said. "He has autism and he will always have autism, but that doesn't mean he can't grow as a person and can't continue to find people to connect with."