‘The Good Doctor’: Who Plays Dr. Claire Brown?
Who plays The Good Doctor’s Claire Brown? Here’s everything Showbiz Cheat Sheet knows about Antonia Thomas.
How Antonia Thomas became famous
Antonia Thomas made her first television appearance in the 2009 British series Misfits. She played the character Alisha Daniels until 2011. The following year, Thomas made her film debut in the movie 8 Minutes Idle, in which she played the role of Adrienne. That year, she also joined the series Homefront as recurring character Tasha Ravely. Her other acting roles include appearances in Lovesick, The Musketeers, Sunshine on Leith, and Hello Carter.
How Antonia Thomas decided to become an actor
Thomas, who comes from a family of performers, tells the BUILD series she decided to become an actor when she was around 11 years old. She started out with school plays and continued to perfect her craft as she became older.
I guess from an early age, about 11, I joined school plays and stuff like that. Performing is slightly in my family. My dad was an opera singer and my elder sister was in musical theater. I kind of thought I wanted to sing more initially.
And I got involved in this youth theater group called the National Youth Music Theater. It’s sort of a semi-professional thing. And I went on tour to Japan with them with this musical; I was 14. I loved it, and I kind of got the bug. But then I got home and had to sort of do school and stuff and slowly kind of liked the idea more of just straight acting, and so I went to drama school after.
Antonia Thomas’ audition for ‘The Good Doctor’
Thomas tells the BUILD series she auditioned for The Good Doctor on short notice. “The audition came in very last minute,” says Thomas. “I was in LA, I had been doing pilot season. I’d had a really long week of auditions that were fine, but it was up and down. I got to Friday and I said to my friend, ‘Let’s go have a drink.’
We were both auditioning, and we were just having a glass of wine and then the audition for The Good Doctor came in and they were like, ‘Really sorry, it’s tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. They can only do it then.’” Thomas says she prepared and met the producers and the rest of the team the next day. She was concerned she didn’t do well, but everything worked out.
Why Antonia Thomas says medical dramas can be challenging
Thomas tells The Scotsman it’s fun to work on a medical drama, but it can be challenging. Playing a doctor requires her to learn medical jargon and use difficult terms with ease.
“Medical dramas are really fun, but they definitely have their challenges with all the medical jargon to learn,” says Thomas. “The operation scenes are fun and also tricky because it’s about the angles and can take time and be persnickety to get right. But I haven’t picked up any knowledge that would be useful to me in the real world, putting up my hand anytime and shouting ‘I’m a doctor.’”
Antonia Thomas’ thoughts on ‘The Good Doctor’
Thomas tells The Scotsman she is proud to be part of The Good Doctor because of its positive portrayal of people with autism. “I think the fact the central hero is a doctor with autism is fantastic and it’s really representing it in a positive light,” Thomas says. “The show is about Shaun learning to navigate a professional working environment, but it also celebrates his brilliance and that is such a hopeful, positive thing. Autism isn’t talked about enough.”
Read more: Claire Won’t Be OK
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