There’s an old saying that goes, “Never meet your heroes,” but… TV creator and producer Bill Lawrence, It was a dream come true. Lawrence’s new Apple TV+ series “Bad Monkey,” which premieres Wednesday, is based on the novel. By Carl Hiaasen, One of his favorite authors.
“I started reading Carl Hiaasen’s books when I was 15. There’s a direct line between Carl’s surreal satire and the largely insane character pieces, like Scrubs,” explained Lawrence, who also created the long-running comedy series directed by Zach Braff. “The man helped me become a storyteller. He turned out to be as great as I could have hoped and a very kind man.”
Bad Monkey stars Vince Vaughn, whose sense of humor and quick-witted comments make him a perfect fit for the writing styles of both Hiaasen and Lawrence.
Vaughn plays Andrew Yancey, a former Miami police detective who now lives in the Florida Keys and works as a restaurant inspector. (The scene where we see Yancey at work leads to a running joke about how he’s lost his appetite for the foreseeable future and shows Vaughn at his most emotional.)
A friend asks Yancy for a favor: to deliver a human arm that washed up on the beach to the coroner (Natalie Martinez). When he later meets Eve (Meredith Hagner), the widow of the man who owned the arm, Yancy finds himself helpless to let go of the case. The plot unfolds, dealing with themes of greed and power.
“He can’t let go of something that he knows is wrong,” Vaughn said of Yancey, whom he described as “like the Energizer Bunny.” “He can’t help himself. And then, no matter how many times he falls down, or gets hit in the face, or things don’t go his way, he’ll just keep going. That’s an inspiring quality to have.”
Vaughn’s relationship with Lawrence dates back more than 25 years, when they played poker together. “He made me laugh,” Vaughn said of accepting the role. “It was easy for me to watch his career go from afar.”
As for Lawrence, he said Vaughn’s 1996 independent film “Swingers” “helped shape a generation of writers. When he came on screen saying, ‘You’re too rich to know it,’ everyone wanted to write that kind of dialogue.”
Vaughn and Bill Lawrence (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Michelle Monaghan Bonnie plays Yancy’s friend who appears and disappears from his life. She appears only briefly in the novel, and Monaghan credits Lawrence with bringing her story to life.
“She’s very delusional but also very naive,” Monaghan said with a laugh. “When we first met her she was very funny and playful and aloof but as the show went on we saw that she was also very predatory… Bill creates characters who do outrageous things.”
When it came time to experiment with alternate takes and improvisation, not everyone was as comfortable as Vaughn.
“Vince would encourage the other cast members, saying, ‘I’ll get you in trouble if you say this. It’ll be funny,'” Lawrence recalls.
Ronald Peet, who plays a hunter named Neville whose storyline coincides with Vaughn’s, said he had to get used to the freedom to deviate from the script.
“Every day I went to work, I was doing something, you know, my mind was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this,’” Pete said. “This is how you grow, this is how you expand, so I’m grateful.”
The episodes were filmed on location in South Florida so the actors could experience the kind of lazy humidity that slows down the pace of the everyday world.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. When I’m in a comfortable acoustic environment, I don’t like it. When it’s hot, I’m not in my head the same way. And I like to be like, ‘I’m not thinking,’” Hagner said.
“I think I needed to spray my hair more,” Vaughn recalls. “Keez was amazing. The nature, the ocean, the wildlife. I really enjoyed it.”
Martinez is from Miami so the job gave her a chance to connect with her family.
“I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, but I was born and raised in Miami. My whole family is there, so it was great to be able to have my niece or my aunt come over to the set and see what I’m doing. I took a break… and I was able to go to my grandmother’s house and have lunch with her.”
Filming “Bad Monkey” gave Lawrence the invaluable opportunity to work with his daughter Charlotte, who plays Eve Caitlin’s stepdaughter on a recurring basis. This was Charlotte’s first acting role, a singer-songwriter.
Charlotte is well aware of the rhetoric surrounding having a baby Nebo, and said she is grateful for the “big opportunity” she has been given.
“I was in musical theatre and plays as a kid, but I always loved acting. I just couldn’t connect the dots, you know, or imagine myself being able to do it as a career,” Charlotte said. “I think because my parents were involved, I wanted to rebel and do my own thing and not be tied down to them. But, it wasn’t the most fun.”
“If you can work with your kids, do it forever,” Lawrence said. “That’s my advice to everyone. Who cares what other people say. It’s great.”