Bad Monkey isn’t just the title of Vince Vaughn’s new Apple TV+ series; the phrase could also apply to his primate scene partner, according to the actor.
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Crystal the Monkey — who has more than 30 credits to her name, including The Hangover Part II and Night at the Museum — plays the titular monkey in the show, which is adapted from Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 book of the same name. It follows a former Miami detective Andrew Yancy (Vaughn) who is demoted to a restaurant inspector in the Florida Keys; an unusual new case might get him back in the department if he can get past an odd cast of characters and one monkey.
Though Vaughn admitted Crystal is “a talented monkey,” he jokingly told The Hollywood Reporter at the show’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday, “I’ll never work with that one again. Talk about sucking up all the oxygen on a set, it’s like, ‘I got it.’ Handlers, big entourage — unapproachable.”
The star continued, “People would warn you about her — ‘Don’t come up from behind her.’ Lot of rules on the set, very uncomfortable. I’d rather be honest with everyone out there than create some facade like we got along — we didn’t get along.”
Showrunner Bill Lawrence had a slightly different version of the story, teasing, “I think we all felt more secure that Crystal the Monkey has worked on more shows and movies than any actor, writer or actress on the show. She was the most professional; she was horrible miscast because she’s actually a very good monkey.”
The series, which also features Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Meredith Hagner, Rob Delaney, Natalie Martinez and Zach Braff, marks a team-up with Vaughn and Lawrence after 25 years of friendship.
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Lawrence — also behind Scrubs , Ted Lasso and Shrinking — said he knew Vaughn would be right for the role as in the book, Hiaasen “describes Yancy as like an imposing guy who can be threatening sometimes, does questionably sketchy things, is very banter-driven and edgy toward the people he interacts with, and yet somehow still likable. That’s a hard thing to do without being somebody that people don’t root for.”
He continued, “I knew it was the right decision right when we got to Miami when we were walking around getting ready to work; everybody approaches Vince like they’re old friends and he meets them with the same humility. No one’s like, ‘Hey, I’m a big fan,’ they’re like, ‘Yo Vince, you’re so money!'”
Vaughn, famous for his improv and quick comedy skills, noted that his approach to the show was to “kind of try to evolve lines — sometimes you’re great with what you have but it’s not anything that’s pre-planned, it’s just if a moment happens you go with it.” Lawrence added of Vaughn’s style, “He’s a high-integrity dude. He always does one take the way it’s written because he knew I cared about the book, and then he plays around and sets other people up.”
Bad Monkey starts streaming on Apple TV+ on Wednesday.
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