Summary
Bad Monkeyfollows Andrew Yancy, a Miami detective turned health inspector. Yancy is pulled back into the world of investigating greed and corruption by a strange mystery surrounding a severed arm. As he starts his own investigation after being dismissed by the police, Yancy comes across an eclectic group of individuals, but with everyone being a suspect, Yancy will have to trust his gut and investigative insects to get to the bottom of this strange mystery.
Vince Vaughn perfectly captures the affable detective with a hilariously sarcastic wit as Andrew Yancy and is able to show his more dramatic side as well. Bill Lawrence has become a master at balancing comedy, heart, and a touch of dramawith series likeScrubs,Ted Lasso, andShrinking, which is the perfect blend forBad Monkey, which also infuses the murder mystery genre as well. The series is based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name.
Bad Monkey Official Trailer
Apple TV+ releases the first trailer for Bad Monkey, its new murder mystery show starring Vince Vaughn.
Screen Rantcaught up withZach Braff about his new roleinBad Monkey. He discussed working with Lawrence in front of the camera again and shared why it was so special for him to work with Vaughn. Braff also teased what audiences can expect from his Bad Monkey character and pitched an interesting storyline for JD in a potential Scrubs reboot.
Screen Rant:Bad Monkey’sfilled with so many amazing, rich, fascinating characters, but at the center of the story, it’s a murder mystery and your character Israel O’Peele is a part of that. I don’t think he’s a bad guy at all. He just made a lot of bad decisions that kind of spiraled. Tell me a little bit about your character and his relationship with Rob Delaney’s character without giving anything away.
Zach Braff: Well, it’s so hard to talk about my character without giving away spoilers, but yeah, he’s a guy who makes one bad decision and it leads him to keep making bad decisions. And then he’s kind of painted into a corner and you don’t want to get painted into a corner with murderers around, but it was really fun to play. It’s a different character than I usually get to play, and I loved working with Rob. He’s hilarious.
You dive into this role and I thought you were hilarious in this role, and like you said, you’re in this with Rob. Can you talk about working with Rob and your most memorable experience working with him in this?
Zach Braff: My most memorable experience is that we went on a man-date together to go look at the Florida gators. We went to one of those swamps [with] the big fan boat and we went looking at gators together. He’s just the nicest guy and he’s just effortlessly funny and it was a different part for him as well. So I think we were both really excited to be doing roles that aren’t the typical thing we get to do.
You’re also reteaming with Bill Lawrence onBad Monkey. Can you talk about that?
Zach Braff: Bill and I just have the same sense of humor and he’s just been a big champion of mine, so I feel so grateful. We work so well together. I directed Lasso and I’m directing Shrinking. It’s fun to be in front of the camera with him again. We really just have a great symbiosis. We see things the same way.
Meredith Hagner is absolutely amazing as Eve. She kills it in this role. Tell me about your character’s dynamic with her and what did she bring to the role that wasn’t on the page?
Zach Braff: Well, when you have someone that’s that funny and pretty with those big blue eyes, I think the audience is going to be surprised by how evil the person is. I think you could cast someone who could lean into that, but with Meredith, you’re not expecting someone so cold-blooded to be behind that beautiful smile.
“It’s Such An Honor” Working With Vince Vaughn
At the center of our story is Yancey a former detective who just can’t let things go. Vince is great in this role. He’s amazing with his banter and comedic sensibility. Can you talk about working with him on this project?
Zach Braff: It’s such an honor. I’m really, I love him so much. Swingers was life-changing for me. I wanted to be Vince. I wanted to be like Vince in real life and as an actor. The hardest thing with Vince is not laughing at all the stuff he’s improvising because he never says the same thing twice.
A Scrubs Reunion Might Find JD “Having Lost Some Of His Joy”
Last question I have for you. I was talking to Bill earlier and he said that we could get aScrubsreunion in six months to a year. Who knows if that’s going to happen, but I hope it does.If there is aScrubsreunionwhat do you want to explore with JD that you didn’t get to before and where do you think the character is now?
Zach Braff: Well, I think that JD is a grown ass man now, and so Scrubs would still have his imagination, but I think he’s more in the Dr. Cox position these days. He’s the senior doctor to the hospital. I think it would be interesting to find him yearning for some of the innocence of his youth and finding ways to get back to the character that everybody fell in love with. To me, that would be interesting seeing him having lost some of his joy and going in search [to find] some of the joy of his youth.
“Bad Monkey” tells the story of Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), who has been bounced from the Miami Police Department and is now a health inspector in the Keys. But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey.
Bad Monkey
Cast
A former Miami detective turned health inspector, Andrew Yancy, discovers a severed arm while working in the Florida Keys. Determined to solve the mystery and reclaim his former position, he navigates through a web of quirky locals and corruption, all while dealing with a troublesome monkey.
