Pour out a glass of whiskey for Dr. Neil Melendez.
The season 3 finale ofThe Good DoctormarkedNicholas Gonzalez’s last episode as a series regular on the ABC drama.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you find out Melendez was going to die at the end of the season?
Darko Sikman/ABC
NICHOLAS GONZALEZ:It was probably about two-thirds into the season.
So it was pretty much right after the new year I was informed.
How did you react?
So to me, it’s been nothing but a blessing.
It’s something that I literally built a family on.
Now she’s 3 years old and we just had her birthday.
This has been an amazing whirlwind ride, and I’m sad to see him go.
I’m a fan like everyone else, first and foremost.
By no means is it a Neil Melendez farewell episode.
That’s part of it, but it’s not centered around it by any means.
So I was what I think some people might be, heartbroken in some ways.
Right, and it’s a difficult thing to grapple with as welldoes she tell him?
What was your last day on set like?
You know, episode 320 was an emotional toll, to be honest.
While Neil was saying goodbye, so was I.
We’ve never seen Melendez vulnerable like this.
What was it like for you to explore that?
I think the beauty of it for him is in his fight of it, fighting against it.
He’s not the most graceful patient.
He’s not the person that’s going to sit there and listen to your assessment quietly.
There’s something very sobering in that, and we slowly watch as he comes to realization.
It’s a cruel, bittersweet one.
You mentioned how you felt as though you were saying goodbye at the same time as your character.
Would you say that was the most straining thing?
The emotionality more than anything [was a strain] because everything was very raw.
It got a bit more of my HP.
It’s definitely a lesson for an actor, that’s for sure.
What do you think you’ll miss the most about the character?
I never thought it would affect me, the depth.
The Good Doctorwill return for season 4 on ABC.
In the meantime, confirm you readour postmortem with showrunner David Shore.
