In Bad Monkey, Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), a suspended detective in the Florida Keys, tries to prove that he is good at his job, by investigating a mysterious death.
In a new Apple TV+ drama, Vince Vaughn plays a detective turned restaurant inspector who gets involved in a multi-layered investigation, allowing him to redeem his reputation in the police force.
The biggest aspect of Vaughn’s character, Andrew Yancy, is his dedication to his role in this case. However, he struggles to spend time on personal relationships along the way. Vince Vaughn shared how this behavior might be his character’s vice based on past behavior.
“I think he gets so caught up in this particular situation and prioritizes it. And to his detriment to a large degree,” said Vaughn. “But I think he does have the capacity to care about people and to be fair-minded and want what’s good for them. That all comes within balancing his humanness and want of connection,” said Vaughn.
In the mix of the mystery, Meredith Hagner and Charlotte Lawrence play stepmother and daughter. The death is linked to their family in a way that is twisted and unexpected.
Hagner reflected on how her character, Eve Stripling, uses manipulative tactics to take control over her husband, Nick (Rob Delaney).
“She’s just a classic sociopath,” said Hagner. “And I think what she’s driven by is control and power and also just like uses her sexuality and her femininity to just own this guy…” said Hagner. “I think like her whole thing is like, “Who’s in my way?” “How do I control them?” “How do I get rid of them?” “How do I get what I want?”, said Hagner.
Charlotte Lawrence portrays Eve’s stepdaughter, Caitlin Stripling, who actively opposes her mother’s behaviors. Lawrence discussed how Caitlin listens to her “gut” to decide if the death in her family is an accident.
“I think that Caitlin knew exactly who Eve was from the moment she met her. I think she could see right through her,” said Lawrence. “We were talking about this earlier that a woman’s intuition shall not be messed with…,” said Lawrence.
“I also think, you know, making Nick, my father…seem so kind and so lovely and so sweet, innocent…it was very easy for somebody to come into his life and take complete control over him,” said Lawrence.
The new Apple TV+ series is based on the 2013 book of the same title written by Carl Hiaasen.
It has a dual plot in which the episodes seamlessly shift back and forth between Andrew Yancy and a Bahamian native (Ronald Peet) who notices changes in his community when land developers begin populating his island.
Their stories eventually blend to solve the mystery. Executive producer and showrunner, Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso) described his love of “ensemble shows” and how they influenced these transitions, in addition to his passion for the original novel.
“I think the thing that attracts me to Carl’s world and why he was such an influence on me as a storyteller, is he always brings these incredibly different characters together and watches them bounce off each other…,” said Lawrence.
“You can only do two different stories if A, they seem equally as important and And B, if they seem authentic, you know I thought kind of that eclectic group of people made it work and being in Florida,” said Lawrence.
Bad Monkey will stream on Apple TV+ on August 14.
