Andi Mack star Peyton Elizabeth Lee will play the title role in the Doogie Howser reboot for Disney +
Disney announced on Thursday that Peyton Elizabeth Lee will put on the white coat and stethoscope on the next reboot of Disney + Doogie Howser, MD
The 16-year-old actress will take over as Neil Patrick Harris in the original ABC series, which ran from 1989 to 1993.
This is the most profiled role so far for Lee, who previously played the title role in the original Disney Channel series Andi Mack.
New face: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, 16, will star in a female reboot of Doogie Howser for Disney +, renamed Doogie Kameāloha, MD; seen in 2019 in Hollywood
The new half-house medical series has been transplanted to Hawaii and will be renamed Doogie Kameāloha, MD, to reflect the character’s background.
Later on Thursday, Deadline reported that Episodes actress Kathleen Rose Perkins would also join the series in a lead role.
In the restarted series, Lee will play 16-year-old physician Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha.
The mixed-race teenager needs to balance her social life with the commitments of a high-pressure medical career.
Old school: Neil Patrick Harris played the title character of the original series, which lasted from 1989 to 1993, as a 16-year-old doctor. Lee’s character was renamed to Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha; advertising for Doogie Howser, MD
Main part: actress Kathleen Rose Perkins of Episodes would also join the series as Lahela’s ‘spat out’ Irish mother, who is also a doctor and her hospital supervisor; seen in 2017
Perkins will star as Lahela’s ‘spat out’ Irish mother, who is also a doctor and her hospital supervisor.
She also has a ‘Local Boy’ Hawaiian father who struggles to accept that his daughter will soon become an adult.
Leading the restarted series will be executive producer Kang, who has worked with Perkins on ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat.
In the original series, created by the late Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, Doogie’s father was a doctor, while his mother was a housewife.
The new reboot will remain in the family, as Bochco’s widow Dayna Bochco and her son Jesse Bochco will executive produce the series with Kang, Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar.
Strong start: Lee was part of a cast that made history during his three-season run at Disney’s Andi Mack. She played the title character, who learned early in the series that her older sister was actually her mother
Making progress: the series was the first on the Disney Channel to feature a gay main character; advertising still by Andi Mack
Lee was part of a cast that made history during his three-season run in Disney’s dramatic comedy Andi Mack.
She played the title character, who learned early in the series that her older sister was actually her mother.
Andi Mack was the first Disney Channel series to feature a gay main character.
Joshua Rush played Andi’s friend Cyrus, who turned out to be gay in the show’s second season after developing a crush on the same boy Andi was interested in.
Off camera, Lee has a recurring voice acting on Disney’s The Lion Guard, and she had previously appeared on ABC’s now canceled police series, Stumptown.
Expanding career: off camera, Lee has a recurring voice role in Disney’s The Lion Guard, and she had previously appeared on ABC’s now canceled ABC series Stumptown; seen with Skylar Astin in 2019