In Bad Monkey, the new black comedy-drama series streaming on Apple TV+, Monaghan stars as Bonnie Witt, the love interest of the show’s main character Andrew Yancy, played by Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers). Yancy is a former police detective demoted to restaurant inspector.
Bonnie’s narrative is full of mystery. She comes with a dark past that includes being in an abusive marriage. Bad Monkey is based on a 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen. And, yes, a Capuchin monkey character who shows up in the series. The animal’s name is Driggs.
During a recent interview with the Current, Monaghan talked about what she likes about her scheming character, the primate she got to work with on the series, and how she uses journalism as an actress. Bad Monkey is currently streaming on AppleTV+.
What resonated with you about Bad Monkey that made you want to be a part of the series?
It was absolutely [my] character. It was getting the opportunity to work with [creator and executive producer] Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso), who is a comedic genius in my mind. On top of that is Vince Vaughn. He's someone who I've admired, obviously, for a couple of decades. So, getting to collaborate with both of them on a role that is so different than anything that I've done before was a really exciting opportunity for me.
Vince's character tells your character in one scene, “Sometimes I feel like I'm in a movie that you're writing in your head,” and you take it as a compliment. If I drop that line on my wife later tonight, should I expect the same reaction?
(Laughs.) I don't think so! That's what I love about Bonnie. She's just so aloof to anything else that's going on. The world revolves around her. She's slightly delusional. She's kind of naive, but also very sly and very cunning. I really just loved all the different shades of her. It was a great opportunity to dip my toes back into doing comedy. I did that very early on in my career, and it was something that I wanted to do again.
I haven’t finished watching the series, so how much screen time do you actually get with the monkey?
(Laughs.) Unfortunately, I did not get any screen time with the monkey, but I did get some screen time with a manatee. Later in the season, you'll see Bonnie going swimming, and she encounters this incredible protected species. They're very rare and really found only in a certain part of Florida. It was a very cool experience. That's one of the cool things about working in Florida. Florida really serves as this amazing backdrop. All the elements of Florida — the environment, the weather, the different wildlife — really inform the narrative in the show. I think that people will really respond to that.
I saw some photos of you on Instagram playing with some Aussie doodles. So, I'm assuming you're an animal lover, yes?
I am an animal lover. Those Aussie doodles, they're my mom's [dogs]. I was in Iowa, actually. Those Aussie doodles are just shy of a month old, and they're so precious. They kind of stole my heart.
You studied journalism in college. If you had stayed in the field, what do you think your beat would be as a writer?
What a great question! I've always loved investigative journalism. I always thought that I wanted to right the wrongs of the world. I think I would have taken any sort of deep dive into the investigative space. A journalist who I've greatly admired all of my life is Christiane Amanpour. She's a wonderful journalist. I still love journalism. I use journalism when I prepare for a role. I essentially do an investigative piece on my character. I'm still using a lot of those tools. So, studying journalism wasn't all for naught.
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