Here’s what happened…
Warning: This article contains spoilers forMr.
Monk’s Last Case.
Tony Shalhoub in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.Peter Stranks/PEACOCK
Mr. Monk is back and it’s all gift.
Monk’s Last Case,a new movie now streaming onPeacock.
“But it didn’t take long for it to lock in.
Tony Shalhoub and Melora Hardin in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.Steve Wilkie/PEACOCK
I thought, ‘You know what?
This is really right because we want it to be different.’
Why do this at all?
Tony Shalhoub in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.Steve Wilkie/PEACOCK
Why revisit these characters unless we’re treading on new ground?
It’s very real.
Peter Stranks/PEACOCK
“We want to go dark,” he continues.
Jason Gray-Stanford, Traylor Howard and Tony Shalhoub in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.Steve Wilkie/PEACOCK
“But we don’t want the darkness to undercut the comedy we need in there.
We’ve always done a balancing act.
We’ve always walked the tightrope.
Ted Levine in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.Steve Wilkie/PEACOCK
“I always loved the idea,” Shalhoub says of the ending.
“There’s a certain surreal element to it.
It’s taking place all in Monk’s head.
Austin Scott in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’.PEACOCK
That leads him to conjuring Griffin, who talks about closure and is grateful.
The original series ended in 2009.
Was it easy for you to slip back into the brown suit, or did it take a second?
TONY SHALHOUB:It was easier than I anticipated.
The first day was a little daunting.
How do I physically get back into this?
What’s the voice?
It’s been so many years.
But by the end of the first day, we just fell right back into it.
Was it hard for you to return to him in a place where he’s regressed so much?
In some ways it was challenging.
I tried to hold onto that and bring that to it.
Did you find that ironically or darkly humorous, that we’ve all trended in that direction?
The character is still out there.
He’s still more odd than many, but he’s more relatable.
We find out that he’s not as neurotic and hopeless as we thought.
He’s not an alien being, he’s just a guy who was ahead of his time.
It looks like you’ve got a smile on your face and are holding in a laugh.
I could not do that scene without cracking up.
I’m the worst.
Ted and Traylor, they were fine.
We all were into it, but I was losing it.
I don’t know if I was extra punchy that day, but I thought Jason just killed it.
Just absolutely crushed it.
I had to cover my mouth at one point because it was too much.
I’ve said it.
I’m an amateur, what can I tell you?
We learn that Dr. Bell (Hector Elizondo) has retired but has still been seeing Adrian.
For you, what did that say about their relationship as therapist and patient?
It’s almost like a marriage.
These two, they struggle, and yet they’re devoted to each other.
Those are a couple of my favorite scenes in the movie.
Monk has an absolute meltdown when he steps in dog poop.
Did you just give yourself over to reveling in the abandon of that moment?
“Semi-retired officer down” I really wanted that to stay in.
Particularly because Monk is famously clean-shaven and onThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,Abe had a mustache.
Was it confusing to be Monk with Abe’s mustache?
It was a little jarring.
And then I didn’t realize until I saw the dailies that I looked like Geraldo Rivera.
Natalie leaves Monk with rescue dog Watson, his kindred spirit.
How is Monk going to cope with having a dog?
That feels like a lot for him to manage.
PEACOCK
Actors hope for one memorable television role.
Monkwas a bit of a game-changer.
It was the first and only time that I was the title character.
I was involved in discussions with the writers of the story.
I was involved in guest casting.
I was involved in the editing.
So I got to wear a producer’s hat for eight years, and that taught me a lot.
It’s a bit of a standalone thing.
The movie’s calledMr.
Would you want to return again, maybe make a movie like this every few years or something?
I never say never.
I would not be opposed to that, if that’s a possibility.
But you’d have to ask the writers and the internet.
That’s not up to me.
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