by Luis I. Reyes
The talented Nicholas Gonzalez has been working for almost twenty years in film and television and we can now announce he is a verifiable overnight success. He sauntered into Hollywood and soon after landed his first series regular role on the seminal hit drama Resurrection Blvd., created by Dennis Leoni and which aired for three seasons on the Showtime cable network. With a list of credits, including some of the most popular shows on TV, it was the role of Dr. Neil Melendez on ABC’s 2017/18 hit TV series The Good Doctor, to bring him worldwide recognition.
Freddie Highmore and Nicholas Gonzalez (ABC/Jack Rowand)
Nothing can compare with the recognition and exposure that landing a role in a broadcast television hit series can get you. Gonzalez plays Dr. Melendez, the brilliant and highly skilled attending surgeon overseeing surgical residents at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, including the autism/savant (and central character) Dr. Shaun Murphy’s (Freddie Highmore).
During hiatus from the show, Gonzalez has been busy promoting the show, to advertisers at the ABC Up Fronts in New York, at CTV in Toronto, Canada and continuing to lend his name, presence and longtime support to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.
The Good Doctor was the 2017/18 TV fall season’s biggest hit, watched by over 18.2 million viewers, including DVR replays and live streaming, finishing the season as the most watched Monday-night drama in 21 years for the ABC network. Nowadays Gonzalez is recognized wherever he goes, with fans stopping him to profess their love of the show and its characters.
The Good Doctor is based on a Korean format and is created by David Shore, who also executive produces along with Daniel Dae Kim. Highmore stars as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, who relocates from a quiet country life to join the prestigious St. Bonaventure hospital’s surgical unit. The cast also includes Antonia Thomas, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper and Tamlyn Tomita co-star.
In a recent Entertainment Tonight interview Gonzalez explained, “Autism hits a lot of people, that’s why they tune in to the show. The Good Doctor is one of the first shows in the country to tackle autism,” and added, “this is a very heartfelt, very honest portrayal.”
Gonzalez’s credits include How to Get Away with Murder, and Pretty Little Liars. Additionally, he has also appeared on the hit shows Narcos, Frequency, Bosch, The Flash and Being Mary Jane.
The handsome actor is a graduate of Stanford University and is originally from San Antonio, Texas. Gonzalez’s real-life brother and father are both surgeons in San Antonio, Gonzalez consults with them as his unofficial technical advisors. In an interview at the start of the season, Nicholas talked about his character, “Melendez is a very exacting surgeon who is a tough boss. He’s not a mean guy; he just has to be sure the team is ready. It’s very high risk and lives are at stake. He has to know that he can trust them explicitly and that’s the conflict with Dr. Shaun Murphy because he is unpredictable. Melendez’s job is to reduce the unpredictable in the operating room.”
As a Cardio Thoracic surgeon — Doctor Melendez, is also one of the few positive roles played by an American Latino. I nice departure from all the Latino drug cartel characters that seem to proliferate on television for Latinos at the moment.
Currently Gonzalez splits his time between Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia where the series is filmed. The series recently returned to production currently filming the second season of The Good Doctor which makes its return in September.
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