Natalie Martinez had to really hit the ground running when it came to playing Rosa on Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey.
“Coming into this halfway through, at first obviously you’re a little nervous. I didn’t get any of those beginning [conversations with the cast and crew about], ‘We’re all in this together and this is where we’re going,’” Martinez, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly about jumping right in during season 1. “So you always have those thoughts.”
The actress, however, recalled being “welcomed with open arms,” adding, “I thought it was so seamless. [Executive producer] Bill Lawrence creates such a great environment. Vince Vaughn was such a great scene partner. I think they were excited to have me and I was excited to be there. So it was just perfect and a really easy transition.”
Based on the novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen, Bad Monkey follows former police detective Andrew Yancy (Vaughn) who gets demoted to a restaurant inspector before getting sucked into a murder investigation when a severed arm is pulled out of the water. Martinez, meanwhile, plays a medical examiner from Miami who helps Yancy on the case.
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“Rosa is very special to me because she’s very close to home. I’m from Miami, born and raised. I’m Cuban and I wanted to bring a lot of that authenticity to that role. So I was able to talk the way that I would with my accent because Miami has this whole unique way of speaking. That brings this whole new energy that’s very unique,” she shared with Us. “Everybody who is on the show is so tuned in with their characters and they bring such individuality to what they’re doing. That’s what sets the show apart.”
Throughout the season, viewers get to know Rosa better as they watch her questioning her purpose as a medical examiner. Martinez enjoyed getting the chance to explore both sides of Rosa — the one at her job and the other version who enjoys solving mysteries with Yancy.
“[With] Rosa’s job, we had a corner on set to help make sure that I was doing everything right. There were these procedures and protocols that we would do to make it look like this is what she does,” she explained. “And I had very little time to prep so it was very helpful having someone there when I needed because Rosa’s job is very important and you learn to appreciate that. Because without coroners, a lot of things are unsolved.”
Martinez discussed balancing Rosa’s state of mind, saying, “She finds a lot of value in what she does, but it’s really sobering and sometimes it’s a little hard to go to work. Those are those moments where she’s like, ‘I need something in my life.’ And that’s where Yancy comes along and brings this fresh energy and he has this charisma about him.”
It was easy to see why Yancy’s search for the truth starts to appeal to Rosa.
“To be a coroner, you need to be investigative and you have to want to seek the truth. That’s what leads them in such a great journey together,” she noted to Us. “They’ll do anything to just get to the bottom of something and they get hooked on this case. That’s what leads them on this fun trail of figuring it out.”
Martinez had nothing but praise for her scene partner, telling Us, “Vince Vaughn is a legend. He’s in his own category. So the fact that I got to do my scenes with him, I was very honored. I’ve never really done comedies like this before.”
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The costars didn’t have to “work too hard” at their onscreen chemistry. “We got along right off the bat and I can take what he gave and it was this real fun banter back and forth,” Martinez recalled. “He helped me a lot too. There were moments where he knew I could do better and he pushed me to do better. It was a really fun time shooting with him. He was very giving as a scene partner, which is more than anyone can ask for. When you have someone that pushes you to be better, it’s great. And he pulled that out of me and Bill Lawrence did as well.”
The best part of the job was the freedom given to Martinez to develop her character.
“[Bill was so] open to letting me make Rosa my own and make her more authentic to me,” Martinez said while highlighting the scenes with Rosa’s family. “What was great with my family is that everyone that we got is from Florida and is Cuban. I even know some of them. We have friends of friends. The bond was already there. The way that we are and how we express ourselves as a Cuban family — it was just so easy for us.”
Martinez continued: “I really appreciated the fact that they kept it really close to home and hired people who were from what we were showcasing. The way that you got to see Rosa and her family act was very true to form. It’s the one thing I can say about the show that everything just felt really authentic in so many ways.”
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Getting the opportunity to star on Bad Monkey is something Martinez will take with her moving forward.
“Every job teaches you something different. With this one, it showed me a very liberating way of acting. Watching Vince just spew out these witty things and just kind of letting it go. It showed a lot of freedom [because] there’s something to these comedies where it’s just so easy and there’s a flow to them,” she continued. “Watching Vince and Bill work is something that I feel has changed my view on a couple things. As Vince would say, ‘Just let it go. Throw everything at it and something might stick. Don’t get scared, don’t hold back and just keep moving forward.’ That’s one of the things I learned from this.”
New episodes of Bad Monkey premiere on Apple TV+ every Wednesday through October 9.
