The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks to
Bad Monkey’
s Ronald Peet about Apple TV+’s series
Bad Monkey
.
Peet discusses his experience working with Crystal, the monkey, praises Vince Vaughn’s mastery over comedy, the show’s rich stories, and the collaborative atmosphere on set.
Maintaining a positive attitude during hectic shoots, Peet values the show for balancing entertainment with ecological messages.

Who could guess that one of the more experienced actors on the set of Apple TV’s new series would be a monkey? In Bill Lawrence’s Bad Monkey, we meet Driggs, a mischievous monkey who causes a headache for Vince Vaughn’s Andrew Yancy, a former police officer seeking glory by solving a murder. Alongside Driggs are the oddball locals that make Yancy’s investigation more bizarre and comical than ever in this comedy series. The show’s stellar ensemble cast also includes Michelle Monaghan (The Family Plan), L. Scott Caldwell (The Fugitive), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Meredith Hagner (Search Party), Alex Moffat (Saturday Night Live), Natalie Martinez (La Promesa del Returno), and Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang).

Collider’s Steve Weintraub sits with Ronald Peet (First Reformed), who plays the role of Neville, a companion to Driggs. During their discussion, Peet reveals that the monkey who plays Driggs, Crystal, has decades of experience under her belt and grounded him during his scenes. He also talks about learning from Vaughn’s comedic skills, keeping a positive attitude during the hectic shooting schedules, and how he is inspired by the show’s ability to be entertaining while delivering important ecological messages. You can hear it all straight from Peet in the video above or follow along via the transcript below.

Bad Monkey After getting bounced from the Miami PD, a former detective is demoted to restaurant inspector in the Florida Keys. An unusual new case might get him back in the department if he can get past a trove of oddballs, and one bad monkey.Release Date August 13, 2024 Seasons 1

Why Crystal the Monkey Is the Best Scene Partner
Image via Apple TV
 

COLLIDER: They always say it’s a little risky working with children and animals, but the monkey in this show seemed like he was probably a better actor than everybody combined.

RONALD PEET: I would agree. The monkey that we had the privilege of working with is Crystal, actually. She’s a she in the real world but plays Driggs on the show. Crystal has been around in this game for decades now. Crystal was teaching me how to act, quite frankly. My experience with Crystal is that having an animal, and Crystal in particular, so near me — in so many of the scenes, Crystal’s actually on my person, on my body — it had this grounding effect to it. It had an almost Zen, therapeutic effect. So, I was pretty peeved on the days that I didn’t have Crystal working with me because I was like, “I’m out here by myself.” Crystal is the best scene partner in the world.

Crystal is real good.

PEET: Real good. [Laughs].

Vince Vaughn Is a “Master of the Kind of Comedy He Does”
“It’s like looking at the sun when you’re around someone who really knows what they’re doing.”

I’ve been a fan of Vince Vaughn for a long time, I’m sure, just like you. The thing about Vince is he has this very unique delivery that is Vince Vaughn. The other kicker is he’s incredibly funny, and I could see everyone really laughing in the scenes. What is it actually like working with him, where some of the shit he says is just so good?

PEET: I think it’s what you think it would be like. It’s exactly that. It’s like being on SNL or something, where you’re trying not to crack, not to break, because he’s a master of the art. He’s a master of the kind of comedy that he does. It felt like a masterclass every time I did a scene with him. I haven’t always fancied myself a comedian, but it’s like looking at the sun when you’re around someone who really knows what they’re doing.

What was the take that you absolutely ruined from laughing?

PEET: [Laughs] I don’t think that I had one where I really broke because I am a stoic by nature, but inside, I was definitely cracking up every time.

Oh, so you’re not taking credit for any ruined takes?

PEET: I will not take credit for any ruined takes. I will take credit for other things, though. [Laughs].

I’m gonna ask Bill about this.

Ronald Peet Survived the ‘Bad Monkey’ Gamut by Just Saying Yes
Image via Apple TV
 

You see the shooting schedule in front of you. What is the date you have circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this,” and what’s the day you have circled in terms of, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

PEET: That’s a great question. With this one, my character, Neville, really runs the gamut of things he gets to do. He’s on the water, he’s on the ground, he’s in moving vehicles, he’s dealing with the occult, he’s dealing with these developers, white supremacist delusion, and all different elements. Every single day it was like, “Put my helmet on.” There wasn’t really one day I went to work where I was just chilling.

Was there a day that you were like, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

PEET: There is an element of that most days, to be honest. But like I said before, I just said, “Yes.” I just had a “yes” attitude to everything.

What was it like the night before the first day of filming for you? Are you in your head? Are you second-guessing everything? Are you debating the accent? What’s going on?

PEET: I think all of the above. Luckily for me, I do a lot of yoga, I run marathons, and I have a pretty robust meditation practice. There are a lot of variables running through my head, but mostly at the forefront of it, I was like, “Hey, if you’re here, if you got this job, it means that you belong here. So just have fun, be present, and let it roll.”

Are you able to sleep that night or are you like looking at the clock all night?

PEET: I wasn’t looking at the clock all night. I was checking in.

‘Bad Monkey’ Balances Storytelling With an Ecological Message
Image via Apple TV
 

One of the things I really enjoyed about the show is it’s not preachy, but it talks about conservation. Can you talk about that aspect of the show?

PEET: That’s one of the elements of the show that really attracted me. I like stories — I won’t say “stories with a message” — but I was a philosophy double major in school, and I think that there’s a responsibility sometimes, even in storytelling, to be in conversation with what’s actually happening in the world. So, I love that there’s an ecological message that isn’t preachy whatsoever, but it’s just part of the truth of what Andrew Yancy, Vince Vaughn’s character, and Neville Stafford, my character, are dealing with. There’s Yancy in Florida dealing with the red lights and conservation around the turtles and the deer and the wildlife, and my character, Neville, is also dealing with these developers coming in and threatening the natural ecosystem there. I think that’s so rad to be able to deal with what’s actually happening in the world while entertaining and telling a story.

I completely agree.

Ronald Peet Praises His ‘Bad Monkey’ Co-Stars
“Everybody is doing such phenomenal work.”

The show has 10 episodes — which is your favorite and why?

PEET: No, no, no. Every single one is my favorite. [Laughs].

Sometimes, there are certain episodes where you have bigger scenes than others, so there might be one.

PEET: I’ll actually say this: I didn’t get to see a lot of the other actors and the other storylines while I was working because we were kind of atomized. So, my eyes were so big and my mouth was agape when I was watching the first two or three episodes because I think everybody is doing such phenomenal work. I’m not biased, I just think everyone’s doing such wonderful work. I was super excited to watch every single episode because of all of the other stories, aside from Neville’s storyline, that are so full and honest. The cinematography is so juicy and delicious. I’m a fan of the show. Aside from my involvement, I’m a real fan of it.

What you’re wearing as an actor really informs the character you’re playing. Talk a little bit about collaborating with Heidi [Higginbotham] on the costumes. Was there anything that you brought in that really helped? What is that collaboration like?

PEET: Every aspect of this show, from Heidi to Bill to Vince, was super collaborative and so creative. Neville’s attire had everything to do with how I got to access Neville’s character. Neville is so close to the ground and Neville is so close to the ocean. Neville is wearing these tank tops and these oversized [clothes]. He has this key that I remember us collaborating on. We created a real backstory about the key being connected to his father, who had passed. Little things like that went a long way to keep me in the reality of the fiction that we were making. But Heidi was so open to every idea that I had. I feel really blessed to be able to say that.

The first two episodes of Bad Monkey are available to stream on Apple TV+ with subsequent episodes dropping every Wednesday.

Watch on Apple TV