Tony Shalhoub has missed ‘Monk’ too

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Yes, people are still giving handy wipes to Tony Shalhoub.

That’s because for years he so convincingly portrayed ace investigator and germaphobe Adrian Monk that people assumed Shalhoub, too, was paranoid about clean hands.

“It was funny the first thousand times and now it’s gotten a little old,” Shalhoub told CNN in a recent interview. “People used to do it as a joke and now people do it because they actually are carrying wipes.”

Thanks to the pandemic, plenty of people are more conscientious about germs. That’s not the only thing that has changed since “Monk” went off the air in 2009 after eight seasons.

Shalhoub has gone on to do more great work, including on the critically acclaimed “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” However his role as Monk is especially beloved, including by the man who portrays him.

“I like that he’s kind of multifaceted and that he doesn’t fit in in any one sort of box. I mean, he’s lovable,” Shalhoub said of Monk. “But he’s got flaws. He’s can be self-centered. Sometimes he can be blind to other people’s troubles or problems or pain. And I like that.”

The actor has revived the character for Peacock’s “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” set to stream on Friday.

Getting the cast back together for the project was “like a dream,” Shalhoub said.

“It was joyous, it was productive, everybody wanted to do it and everybody was excited to do it,” he said. “And everybody brought their A game. It was just fun.”

The new movie finds Monk investigating the death of someone close to a loved one.

Shalhoub said one of his favorite things about returning the role is that Monk is “not hip, he’s not sophisticated, he’s not up on pop culture” and nor is the show.

“I also like the fact that aside from Monk, the character Monk, the show tends to be more of a low tech show.” he said. “You know, we don’t use a lot of sophisticated computers and gadgetry and things that would help us figure out crimes. We just do it the old fashioned way.”

That’s not to say the movie is just like the series.

“I was really heartened by the fact that we were going a bit darker [in the film] than we typically would, or than we ever did, really,” Shalhoub said. “All of us agreed that we didn’t want to make episode 126. We wanted it to be familiar, in some ways recognizable, but we wanted it to be heightened with raised stakes, higher stakes.”

As for whether this really will be Monk’s “last case,” Shalhoub said another movie could be possible, depending on how this one “does out there in the world and people’s appetite for more.”

“Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” starts streaming Friday on Peacock.

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