‘Bad Monkey’s Charlotte Lawrence Shares Sweet Vince Vaughn Story From Set: “I Was Just In Awe…He’s The Best”

Bad Monkey has officially swung into Apple TV+ subscribers’ hearts, and fans of Bill Lawrence’s Carl Hiaasen adaptation will be thrilled to know that the cast had as much fun working with Vince Vaughn as we do watching him.

Ahead of Bad Monkey‘s August 14 premiere, Decider hopped on a Zoom call with star Charlotte Lawrence — who makes her TV debut in the series as rebellious teen Caitlin Stripling — to chat about everything from working with her dad, creator Bill Lawrence, to sharing the screen with her comedy icon, Vince Vaughn.

The 24-year-old up-and-coming actor not only gushed over Vaughn’s on-screen talents, but she shared an incredibly sweet story from filming that “set the tone” for the entire shoot.

“My first ever scene that I shot for Bad Monkey was with Vince. It was one of the first scenes in the pilot, at the funeral, and I met him and he was so kind. He saw me in the makeup chair earlier that day and he kind of walked me through everything he knew. I think he could tell how nervous I was, and he could not have been more loving and helpful,” Lawrence told Decider. “And we were on set. We did one take. And he did the funniest joke and riffed a little bit. I just wanted to support him and let him do his thing. So I was just in awe. I’m such a fan of his. And they said ‘cut,’ and as they were resetting, he whispered in my ear a joke to say back to him. He was like, ‘OK: When I say this, you say this.’ And I was like, ‘OK. OK'”

The next time the director yelled “action,” Lawrence explained, she followed Vaughn’s instructions and magic happened. “I did it and everyone laughed. And they said, ‘cut!’ and the crew’s laughing and Vince is like, ‘That was all Charlotte!’ [He gave me] complete credit and immediately gave me such confidence and set the tone for the whole rest of filming,” she said. “He was just so lovely. Oh my gosh, he’s the best.”

From Natalie Martinez, Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Ronald Peet to L. Scott Caldwell, Alex Moffatt, Zach Braff, Crystal the Monkey, and more, Bad Monkey’s cast is absolutely stacked. Lawrence shares a majority of scenes with Meredith Hagner and Rob Delaney, who she said were both “wonderful.” But acting opposite Vaughn, who plays Andrew Yancy — a demoted Miami Police Department detective investigating the death of Caitlin’s dad — was a dream come true.

“Honestly, I know this sounds like a fake press bullshit — whatever. I’m dead serious. Put me on a lie detector test… Vince Vaughn is probably my favorite comedic actor of all time,” Lawrence said. “I have been in love with his work since I was a kid. From Swingers to Made to Wedding Crashers. I think everything he’s done is phenomenal, and he has such a way of acting that is so specific to him. He is so generous, he is so lovely, he is so smart. And I think his superpower is this improvisation, hilarious comedic timing, all this stuff — he makes it feel so effortless and so authentic, which it totally is.”

When discussing her newfound love of acting, Lawrence made it a point to note, “I need to work a lot harder and a lot more and get my 10,000 hours in” while saying that Vaughn “has put in his 100,000 hours and has truly worked so hard at his craft.”

“I could not be more lucky,” Lawrence said. “It was such a pinch me moment that my first ever acting job was with the best of the best.”

New episodes of Bad Monkey premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.