The Big Picture

Welcome to a new episode of Collider Ladies Night with
Bad Monkey
star Michelle Monaghan.
During her Ladies Night chat with Perri Nemiroff, Monaghan revisited some unforgettable films and scene partners throughout her career.
She also talked about the
MaXXXine
ending and what it was like starring opposite Vince Vaughn in the Apple TV+ series
Bad Monkey
.

Michelle Monaghan is an all-time favorite. Not only was she one of the very first guests on Collider Ladies Night back in 2019, but she’s also an especially wonderful interview. She speaks of her work with great passion, and also deeply cherishes memories of her most influential scenes partners — and she has many of them. Yes, Vince Vaughn is on that list, but there’s another member of the Bad Monkey ensemble who made an indelible impression on her as well.

Based on Carl Hiaasen’s bestselling novel, the Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey stars Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, a detective who got the boot from the Miami Police Department and sent to the Keys where he’s further demoted to a health inspector. However, when a human arm is fished out of the water in the area, Yancy can’t help himself; he’s got to prove that this individual’s death was no accident, but rather, a murder. Trouble is, he no longer has the resources and support to crack the case, and must sort through a string of unusual personalities to find answers. Complicating matters further for Yancy is Monaghan’s character, Bonnie, a mysterious woman he had an affair with and keeps coming back to.

In celebration of Bad Monkey’s August 14 debut on Apple TV+, Monaghan returned to Ladies Night to dig into her collaboration with Vaughn and a few other past co-stars who heavily contributed to Monaghan’s confidence in her craft and goals for the future.

The Indie Film That Proved to Michelle Monaghan She Found the Right Career
Image via Monterey Home Video

During our 2019 Collider Ladies Night conversation, Monaghan heavily emphasized the importance of two forms of validation in Hollywood — words of affirmation from others, but also proving to herself that acting is what she’s meant to do. When discussing the latter, Monaghan revealed the exact moment that happened. It was while making the 2008 film Trucker, a drama in which she played a long-haul truck driver whose routine is rattled when she’s forced to care for her estranged 11-year-old son.

Monaghan began:

“At the time, I was just coming off of
Made of Honor
, so I’d done
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
, I think I had done
Mission
[
Impossible III
], I may have done
Gone Baby Gone
at that point, I’m not sure, but I just know that
I wasn’t really being offered lead roles
, and certainly lead dramatic roles. I remember I got sent the script by James Mottern, the writer-director, and it just really struck me. It really hit me, and I was like, ‘This is what I’m gonna do.’”

Not only did the script make a big impression on Monaghan, but so did her experience prepping for the film. In fact, she calls it “the first role that I had the opportunity to be fully absorbed in creatively.” She continued:

“I got to really delve into the livelihood and the culture of the female trucking world, got my trucker driver’s license, and spent a lot of time with lady truckers.
It was the first time I really got to put myself in somebody else’s shoes, and that meant a lot to me
, and it was such a fulfilling experience personally and professionally. At the end of it, I was just so proud of what we had made and what we created. I hadn’t even seen the finished product yet, but I already felt so much pride in the collaboration and the creative work, and it did turn out really great. I’m proud of that performance. So that was when I went, ‘Oh, wow. I really did the work, and it paid off. Just keep going down this road.’”

An MCU Actor Gave Michelle Monaghan Vital Words of Encouragement
Image via Warner Bros. 

Related ‘Bad Monkey’ Review: Like ‘Reacher,’ But With Vince Vaughn Vaughn breathes life into Bill Lawrence’s Carl Hiassen adaptation.

As for outside forces who affirmed Monaghan’s ability and place in this industry, she immediately pinpointed her Kiss Kiss Bang Bang co-star, Robert Downey Jr.:

“We would have long chats. This was kind of his first film back after taking a lot of time off, and
we had really vulnerable, great conversations
. He just said, ‘Stay humble, work hard. You’ve got something special and you’ll make it, but just keep doing what you’re doing.’ It was really kind of simple but words of encouragement in any kind of profession or any career, they go a long way.”

Another key source of motivation in Monaghan’s career? Feedback from the crew. She explained:

“You work with people on the crew, and they’ll just say things like, ‘That was a really great scene. That really moved me,’ or, ‘That was really unexpected.’ These are people you spend 15 hours a day with, day in and day out, and they’re the people who see it first.
They’re your first audience and they’re people that you really bond with
, and that’s a kind note of encouragement. It’s so positive. And I just think it’s important to acknowledge people because when they do great work, whether it’s cast or crew, because I know how much it impacts me and how supportive it is for me as a performer.”

We Need Michelle Monaghan to Reunite with Aaron Paul
Image via Hulu

Given the clarity with which Monaghan recalls key collaborations, a favorite Collider Ladies Night question that entered the rotation after her first appearance became a top priority ask this time around. Of all of the scene partners she’s worked with, whose process is most similar to her own and who challenged her to adapt and perhaps try something new for the better? Both answers came to her quite quickly, beginning with her The Path co-star, Aaron Paul.

“Aaron Paul. I adore him. We first met on
Mission: Impossible III
, by the way. He played my little brother, and many people may not know this. So we met on that movie, but then we really got to know each other, of course — he’s one of my best friends now. I adore him through and through as an artist and as a human — on
The Path
. For three years we got to work, and he and I are so similar in our process, in our work, and just the way that we approach the creative collaboration. We’re really in sync.
We’re kind of two peas in a pod.
We have a real mutual respect for each other, and there’s just a real comfort and ease with him.
We want to find something to do so badly together once again.
”

Going Toe-to-Toe with Vince Vaughn in ‘Bad Monkey’

Her pick for a co-star who challenged her on set took us into Bad Monkey. Yes, Monaghan does have a good deal of comedy experience herself, but you only need to watch a single Vince Vaughn film or show to know that his comedic cadence is one-of-a-kind.

“He is so sharp and he is so fast, and it’s, of course, all the reasons that I wanted to work with him, right? Because he is a comedic genius. I say this because I wanted to go back and revisit my comedic roots because that’s where I started. I was like, ‘It’s time to go do that again! And who better to do it with than Bill Lawrence?’ But
opposite Vince Vaughn, he operates on a whole other level
. His brain works really fast, and you get the words on the page that Bill has written, and then all of a sudden, he will look at you, Vince, with a twinkle in his eye and he’ll say, ‘Let’s play,’ and then you’re like, ‘Oh shit. Do we have to?’ And then he just goes.”

One of the best parts of being right smack in the middle of a Vince Vaughn comedy challenge? Even if one doesn’t feel as though they’re on his level comedically, he’s the type of performer who raises you up in the process.

“You really rise to the occasion of what he’s bringing to the table, which is brilliant. And I’ll say that
you meet him there because he carries you there
, even if what you say isn’t as funny or clever, because he’s just that much more clever, he’ll make it funny. He’s that kind of scene partner that you can lean into. So that’s definitely a scene partner in recent years that I have felt I went, ‘Oh boy. Wow. I don’t know if I’m up here, but thank you for taking me under your wing and pushing me.’ And I think we have great scenes. We have great chemistry and it was really, really fun. I love working with him.”

Michelle Monaghan Had a Downright Magical Experience Making ‘Bad Monkey’
Image via Apple TV
 

Who’s the other Bad Monkey co-star that moved Monaghan considerably, you ask? “I got to swim with a manatee.” She continued:

“I’m not necessarily that comfortable in water. I love stunts. I love doing a lot of things, but I’m not a big swimmer, and it was one of those things where they were like, ‘
Are you comfortable in the water? Can you swim with a manatee?
’ And I was like, ‘Sure,’ and then I Googled, ‘What is a manatee?’ You know what I mean? [Laughs] To be honest, for real, I was like, ‘What is a manatee?’ And I see this thing and it’s like a very prehistoric-looking creature. They’re also referred to as sea cows, which makes sense because they are, like, the size of a cow, the size of a small couch.”

The Bad Monkey team didn’t use a film-friendly contained facility to complete the scene. They simply drove out to town in Florida where they were hopeful they could find one out in the wild. Monaghan recalled:

“It was one of those things where we’re gonna take a road trip to Crystal River, this very small little town in Florida where you can find a manatee. We got the cameras, we’re gonna dive in there, and
we’re gonna hope that we can find a manatee and then we’re gonna hope that we can find a manatee that wants to hang out
. And sure enough, we found the most playful manatee. We swam with this creature for an hour. It was so beautiful. It was so humbling and thrilling. It was just such an amazing adventure. It was towards the end of filming, and there were only about 20 of us from the crew that were there, and we just took a bus and it was just so much fun. My kids think I’m really cool. My son, in particular, thinks it’s really cool that I swam with a manatee, and so I’m really proud that I did that. I overcame a fear. I managed to hold my breath. I didn’t drown. I didn’t drown the cameraman, and I didn’t freak out, so I’m proud of that as well.”

Looking for even more filmmaking memories from Monaghan, including how she managed to keep an extremely unpredictable character like Bad Monkey’s Bonnie just grounded enough? You can watch our full 40-minute conversation in the video at the top of this article, or you can listen to the interview in podcast form below:

Bad Monkey Bad Monkey follows Andrew Yancy, a former Miami detective demoted to restaurant inspector in the Florida Keys. When a tourist finds a severed arm while fishing, Yancy sees an opportunity to regain his badge by unraveling a web of greed and corruption. Along the way, he encounters a cast of quirky characters and a troublesome monkey.Release Date August 13, 2024 Main Genre Crime Seasons 1

Bad Monkey Episodes 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Apple TV+. New episodes drop weekly through October 9.

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