'The Good Doctor' Star Bria Henderson Opens Up About a Profound Personal Loss
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Bria Samoné Henderson and Noah Galvin as Jordan Allen and Asher Wolke on 'The Good Doctor.'
The Good Doctor fans are in for an emotional ride. After the shocking death of Asher Wolke (Noah Galvin), the staff of St. Bonaventure Hospital will have to learn to compartmentalize their grief during a medical crisis that takes over the hospital. First, they must say goodbye to their friend and colleague at a tear-jerking funeral.
One person you can definitely expect to struggle to hold it together is Asher's best friend Jordan (Bria Samoné Henderson), who was away taking care of her great aunt in the episode where Asher was murdered.
"Jordan is going to be deeply affected by the death of her best friend in this world," Henderson told Parade in an interview ahead of Tuesday's episode. "Her life is turned upside down and she's going to go through a series of facing grief and questioning her own beliefs. When it comes to such a devastating loss, it's natural for humans to do."
Related: 'The Good Doctor' Ending With Season 7: Everything to Know About the Show's Final Run
Losing Asher in such a traumatic fashion—he was hit in the back of the head by anti-Semitic vandals—is going to test Jordan's faith, which has been a cornerstone of her character since she arrived on the show.
"It does test her faith in who God is and who she's believed God to be. If you have plans that work out for me, then how was this in the plan? How was this in the cards? Why would God allow something like this to happen to such a beautiful person? Why do evil people get grace? All of those thoughts come to her...She'll have to question that from this big loss in her life," Henderson revealed.
Filming Jordan's grief scenes was a trial for Henderson herself. Not only did she have to say goodbye to her co-worker and real-life friend Galvin, but the arc needed to be filmed only two weeks after Henderson lost and had to bury her mother.
"I was filming this scene and it felt like a direct mirror of what I had just gone through maybe a couple of weeks before," the actress said. "It was a very hard day to film that scene. It was hard to come back to work and film at all because I had just dealt with that and I kind of had to leave home a few days after the funeral. When you see that scene, it is not acting at all. It is just me kind of reliving something I had just gone through."
The emotional rollercoaster won't end with just one episode. Henderson explained that the rest of The Good Doctor's final season was an epic trial she had to prevail through in the wake of her own personal grief.
"Jordan has to face a lot of grief in the last season, and I am facing grief head-on right now. It was very triggering for me to work. Art imitates life, but I never knew it was going to be that close to home for me on this show," she explained. "It almost feels like it wasn't a coincidence. It's a weird thing where I'm doing something on camera that I am also doing in my personal life. A lot of therapy and some grief counseling helped me to get through it."
It's not all bleak news. The actress also teased that Asher's death will force Jordan and Jared (Chuku Modu) to make some decisions about the unresolved romantic tension between the two of them.
"It does inspire them to make a move. Now what that move is will be more of a discovery for the audience. Yes, a move will be made," Henderson teased. "Anything like a tragic loss will push people into [thinking] 'What do I really want? What am I really seeking? What is the right thing for me?' I think they both make decisions and they get their thing."
Henderson also gave us a few clues about returning faces in the final season, reconfirming that Antonia Thomas will return as Claire Browne before the series ends. Another beloved doctor, this one especially close to Jordan, will also return before The Good Doctor says goodbye.
"You will see Brandon [Larracuente] making a comeback as Dr. Perez," Henderson revealed. However, she was tight-lipped when pushed about how Jordan would feel about seeing Danny again. "It was very exciting to have him back and it was great. It was like a reunion, that's all I can say," she said.
We'll just have to see how that pans out.
The Good Doctor continues on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
