The Good Doctor fans are passionate about the Carly/Shaun/Lea love triangle.

We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Jasika Nicole (Carly) and get her take on Carly and Shaun's relationship, the evolution of her character, and all other things The Good Doctor.

Check out her thoughts below.

What attracted you to the role of Carly?

Well, the fact that I booked it.

Carly was initially a small guest star role, so there wasn’t much to be attracted to. The breakdown just said she was a cute girl who worked in pathology.

Her role wasn’t really expanded until the end of The Good Doctor Season 2.

What were your thoughts about who Carly was when you first started playing her? 

She was initially used to show Shaun’s character interacting with someone else in the hospital but she wasn’t well developed when I first started playing her.

When I came on as a regular, the writers and I discovered who she was together.

How has your perception of Carly evolved as the story has progressed? 

They wrote Carly to be a very intellectual, fun, quirky, compassionate and professional woman, so it’s been a joy to play her.  

How familiar were you with autism before working on this show? 

Very familiar. My sister is autistic. 

Who are you rooting for in the Carly/Shaun/Lea triangle? 

Obviously, I have been rooting for Carly and Shaun.

I think their relationship is very sweet and, for the most part, healthy. They are good communicators, clearly care a lot about each other, and have figured out ways to compromise when they run into tough spots in their relationship.

But I also understand why fans really like Lea and Shaun together.

I think there are more opportunities for growth in their relationship.

Lea helps Shaun get out of his regimented ways and challenge himself more, and Shaun brings an element of stability and peace to Lea’s life that I don’t think she normally has.

Carly already has her shit together so to speak, at least as far as we know about her at this point in the show, so the potential for dynamic changes in her character seems lower.

The only thing I am not rooting for is the vilification of either of the women in this love triangle. It’s fine for fans to love #Shea or #Sharly, but they have a tendency to demonize the other character they don’t want Shaun in a relationship with, and it feels very misogynistic.

It’s totally reasonable for a person to have more than one love interest in their life at a time, and it’s also healthy to have friendships with people you aren’t romantically involved with.

I think Carly was justifiably jealous about Shaun's relationship with Lea (as per his confession that he is indeed in love with her) but I never understood why fans acted vitriolic towards Lea or Carly.

They are both very different but very great characters!

Aside from the possibility that Lea might actually be ableist (I'm still unsure that her disinterest in dating Shaun is because he is autistic or because she herself feels ill-equipped to be in a serious relationship with someone she actually cares about), I think she could potentially be a great partner for Shaun.

But for me, I will be team #sharly forever. 

What was the most fun scene you’ve filmed thus far?

I’m not sure I would call this “fun” per se, but I absolutely, unequivocally HATE roller coasters with a fiery passion and still managed to ride one in [The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 8] when Shaun and Carly go on a fun date together.

Although the ride itself was utterly terrifying, I felt so proud of myself when it was over, and the whole crew was cheering me on and showing me so much love. It ended up being an incredibly memorable scene.

What would you like to see Carly doing in the future that she hasn’t done so far? 

I would love to see her relationships with other people at the hospital since so far we have only been able to learn about Carly through the lens of Shaun.

I also hope we get a chance to meet Carly’s autistic sister, Andie.

Do you do anything special to prepare for your scenes? 

Not really.

I memorize my lines and think of the best ways to approach the scene from my understanding of the character and the mood of the scene/episode, but mostly I just show up as a malleable entity.

That allows me to discover new things in the scene with the director and my scene partner and makes it feel more like a collaborative process. 

There was recently a scene where Carly was in the OR with Shaun. How challenging was it to do something that was so out of the ordinary for your character? 

It wasn’t challenging in any way for me as an actor. It’s just new scenery but the same character dynamics.

I don’t think it was particularly challenging for Carly, either as she didn’t have to operate on anyone.

She just needed to deliver information, which is technically her job at the hospital- giving the other doctors information about patients that they may not be aware of and occasionally providing her own expertise and insight. 

Tell us a little bit about some of your other projects. 

I’m recording two YA audiobooks this Spring.   

Your turn, The Good Doctor fanatics.

What do you think about the Carly/Shaun/Lea triangle? What do you hope happens for Carly as The Good Doctor moves forward?

Hit SHOW COMMENTS and share your thoughts.

And don't forget: you can watch The Good Doctor online right here on TV Fanatic.

The Good Doctor airs on ABC on Mondays at 10 PM EST/PST.

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.