‘Bad Monkey’s Bill And Charlotte Lawrence Aren’t Afraid To Talk Nepotism: “Anybody Who Gets The Chance To Hire Their Kids — Go For It”

With Bad Monkey, Apple TV+‘s new series based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel, creator Bill Lawrence got the opportunity of a lifetime — to cast his daughter Charlotte Lawrence in her TV debut.

The talented 24-year-old hustled for years in the entertainment industry, carving a successful career for herself as a model, singer, and songwriter. But with Bad Monkey, she finally found her way to the family business.

Charlotte’s dad created hit shows like Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking, while her mom, Christa Miller, has been acting for decades. By definition, Charlotte’s famous, well-connected parents make her a nepo baby. But in a refreshing twist, her and her father are addressing nepotism and the privilege it affords head-on with admirable honesty and immense gratitude.

With Miller starring in several of Bill’s shows over the years and Shrinking featuring Charlotte’s single “Bodybag,” the Lawrence family has been having open conversations about nepotism for years. In Zoom interviews with Decider ahead of Bad Monkey‘s premiere, the father and daughter touched on the topic once more, discussing everything from Charlotte’s unique audition process to the advice she received before she was hired.

“It was implemented in my family at a young age that if one of the kids were passionate about something, that they would support us emotionally and help us out if we proved to them that we were going to work really hard and that we really, really cared,” Charlotte said. “I’ve always loved music, obviously. That was my first love. And I always loved performing and entertaining. I did musical theater and plays and stuff growing up, but as a teenager I had a huge egotistical aversion to acting. I would be like, ‘I am not going to do anything that my parents are doing. No way. I’m going to do the opposite and build my own path, blah, blah, blah.’ It was ridiculous. I wish I did this sooner, but the second I gave it a shot and opened my mind up, I immediately fell in love with acting.”

What essentially inspired Charlotte to audition for Bad Monkey was a bad case of FOMO. “It all started because Charlotte was ridiculously annoyed, because the part was for early 20s, kind of a rock star-ish type that used to be a bit of a party girl. And Apple and everybody was like, ‘Let’s look for someone with a big social media following,'” Bill explained. “The funniest thing was Charlotte’s like, ‘I shouldn’t have been thinking about it,’ even though she’d been studying acting for a while and working on it. But then every friend of hers was calling her up going, ‘I’m auditioning for your dad later, what’s he like?’ And she got more and more annoyed.”

Finally, Charlotte’s FOMO peaked and she called her dad’s assistant — also her best friend and roommate — for the Bad Monkey tea. The assistant sent over the script and encouraged her to audition, so she rehearsed, sent a tape to the casting director, and wound up in the top picks for her character, Caitlin. “People that worked at Doozer (Lawrence’s production company) said, ‘Hey, this is a good audition!” Bill explained. While it wasn’t a fully blind audition because Charlotte knew the EP, he stressed, “It was really good. But it was much better than it had to be for me to hire my kid and have an excuse to hang out and work with my daughter for three weeks in Miami.”

When asked about conversations the two shared after Charlotte made her acting ambitions known, Bill said, “One thing we did before we hired her, was I just told her the truth, which is social media’s toxic. I’m Teflon at this point, but it still sometimes takes my breath away. I said, ‘As long as you know you can handle it, I’d love you to do the gig.’ And I went back and watched some interviews that she had done without me being around on the nepo baby stuff, and she seemed so skilled and honest about about the right way to handle it. So I said why the heck not? And she’s good!”

Prior to her role in the Apple TV+ series, Charlotte took acting classes and worked with a coach to continue honing her skills, but she’s well-aware she has room for growth. “I have so much to learn. I’ve done one thing. I know nothing. I am not good. I know that. I need to work a lot harder and a lot more and get my 10,000 hours in, but [my parents] really supported me and loved me and guided me, and I feel so grateful for the opportunity,” she said. “To get this role and to work alongside my dad, I’m the luckiest person alive. And my mom has given me so many tips and tricks in regards to acting. She’s taught me almost everything I know.”

The Cut’s “There’s Only One Good Way to Be a Nepo Baby” established two essential qualities that both Bill and Charlotte Lawrence displayed with Bad Monkey: “Step one: Acknowledge nepotistic connections. Step two: Stay humble and carry on.”

Charlotte’s self-awareness and commitment to growth makes her shine even brighter as an up-an-coming actor. She makes no effort to downplay how grateful she is for her “pinch me” TV debut, and she hopes if she continues to put in the work it will lead to more opportunities in the future.

“I want to explore so much. I have forever been in love with film. I would love to dive deep into a movie. I love comedy, I love drama, I love horror, I’m open to everything,” she said. “I just love a good script. I love acting so much. I have so much fun doing it. I want to keep learning. I want to keep experiencing and I’m ready for whatever comes my way.”

As for Bill, he’s a proud Girl Dad who’s more confident than ever that he made the right casting call. “Anybody who gets the chance to hire their kids, if you can in this world, go for it,” he encouraged. “What’s the worst that could happen? You get to spend time with them.”

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