Mr. Monk's Last Case Interview: Tony Shalhoub & Creator Andy Breckman On Reviving Monk & Darker Tone

The Return of Adrian Monk

Adrian Monk is back with one of his most personal cases yet in Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie. The Peacock movie picks up 14 years after the series finale, with the titular private detective having retired and focused on writing a book about his cases, though his deal falls through. As he grapples with what to do with his life, he's drawn back into investigating when his stepdaughter's fiancée dies just before their wedding.

Adrian Monk in Mr Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie-1

Alongside Tony Shalhoub, the ensemble Mr. Monk's Last Case cast includes the returns of Traylor Howard as Natalie, Jason Gray-Stanford as Randy, Melora Hardin as Trudy, Hector Elizondo as Dr. Bell and Ted Levine as Leland, as well as franchise newcomers James Purefoy, Austin Scott and Caitlin McGee as Molly, replacing Alona Tal from the series finale. Helmed by show veteran Randy Zisk and penned by creator Andy Breckman, the movie is an emotional and rewarding continuation of the beloved mystery comedy.

Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk in Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie

In honor of its Peacock premiere, Screen Rant interviewed star Tony Shalhoub and writer Andy Breckman to discuss Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie, bringing back its eccentric titular detective, the movie's darker tone, and potential sequels.

Mr Monks Last Case Peacock Movie Poster

Revisiting Monk: An Exclusive Interview

Screen Rant: I am so excited to chat about Mr. Monk's Last Case. Tony, it's been a while since we've seen you as Monk, and you've done a lot of other projects since. What was it like stepping back into Adrian's mindset? Did you find it easy or a challenge after all these years?

Adrian Monk in Mr. Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

Tony Shalhoub: It was a little daunting, you know, the idea of revisiting this guy 14 years later. Not the least of which, the reason was that I've aged so poorly in that time — I was just waiting for you to jump in. [Laughs] You didn't freaking jump in.

Andy Breckman: [Laughs] Not that poorly.

Tony Shalhoub: [Laughs] Anyway, yeah, I was a little nervous about it, because I've done a number of other projects, and I had been wearing the mantle of Abe Weissman for five seasons on Maisel. I just wasn't sure where Monk was in me anymore. But I'll tell you, once we started getting into it, and we started reading through the script a few times, it came back just in waves, it was so fun. I would say by the middle, or the end, of the first day, we were back in, and it was like we had never left it at all.

Andy Breckman: You know, when I write, there's a certain rhythm to every scene that was almost like I'm composing a song. By the end of the first scene, which was the airport reunion scene, not just Tony, but the entire cast, I just felt the rhythm was back. It's like getting an old band back together, you have to tune the guitars, you have to fiddle around and strum a few chords, but after a very short time, just a few minutes, everybody fell into the rhythm of it again. I just felt great, I was standing off camera just beaming.

Rick Eden in Mr. Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

Tony Shalhoub: It helped, too, that the rest of the cast, the rest of the company, was so excited and enthusiastic about coming back, it was joyful.

Caitlin McGee as Molly in Mr. Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

Andy Breckman: And I'll just quickly say, the other thing we did right was we brought back Randy Zisk, who was our creative force and director during the series. I was rewatching the series leading up to the movie, and I remember seeing his name often, so when I saw he was directing the movie, I was like, 'Okay, we're on the right track.'

Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard), Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), and Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) in Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie

Tony Shalhoub: He was like the director-showrunner, basically.

Ted Levine as Leland Stottlemeyer in Mr Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

Andy Breckman: I call him the fifth Beatle. [Chuckles]

Adrian and Trudy in Mr Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

The Emotional and Darker Tone of the Movie

Screen Rant: Tony, I'd like to come to you because of how emotional that finale is in this movie. What was it like on the day shooting it and being presented with the story, how it concludes?

Molly Evans (Caitlin McGee) and Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) in Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie

Tony Shalhoub: Yeah, on the day, it was — I mean, we were so fortunate that the network gave us the resources to do that big a moment. It was not a scene we ever could have afforded or been able to do when we did the series, you know, there's a massive amount of background people, a huge crane to shoot that massive wide shot. I was just so heartened that we had the resources, it felt like a feature. I mean, it is a feature, right? Yeah, it is, and to have that scale, that large scale. I gotta say, it was quite emotional, in that park, coming down that hill, trailing all of the ghosts, whatever it was, and those people were so game, they were so good. We had to do it many, many times to get the positioning correct, and they were just into it.

Molly in Mr. Monk's Last Case A Monk Movie

Andy Breckman: That arc of the story, might not surprise you, was inspired in part by It's A Wonderful Life. I was kind of channeling Frank Capra as I wrote the piece.

Tony Shalhoub: And I was channeling Donna Reed. [Chuckles]

Andy Breckman: Yes, you were. You were channeling Donna Reed. [Laughs]

You've talked about your openness to maybe more movies in the future. What would you both like to explore next with Monk if you were to come back?

Andy Breckman: Well, I actually have an idea that I'm excited about, but I'm keeping it sort of close to the vest.

Tony Shalhoub: He won't tell me.

Andy Breckman: [Chuckles] Well, we're gonna see how this movie plays out. So far, the reaction has been very positive, and it's up to the TV gods. We'll see. We'll see if there's another one down the road for us.