EW has confirmed that season 1 cast member Chuku Modu, who played surgical resident Dr. Jared Kalu, is not returning for the ABC medical drama’s second season. The show’s first season ended with Jared receiving an offer from a hospital in Colorado, and showrunner David Shore told EW in March that he hoped to return to that storyline in the new season.
However, it isn’t all bad news: The Good Doctor is also adding four new series regulars. Recurring players Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Christina Chang, and Paige Spara have been promoted to series regulars. In season 1, Lee and Gublemann played surgical residents Alex Park and Morgan Reznick, and Chang starred as Dr. Audrey Lim, one of the hospital’s attending surgeons.
Spara portrayed Lea, the free-spirited neighbor and love interest of Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). The last time we saw Lea was in the two-part midseason premiere, which ended with her deciding to return home to the East Coast after embarking on a mini road trip with Shaun.
For more information on what to expect in season 2, check out our postmortem with Shore here. Deadline Hollywood first reported the casting news.
The Good Doctor will return for its second season this fall on ABC.