Tony Shalhoub looks to life after 'Monk'

[January 10, 2009]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Actor Tony Shalhoub says as much as he loves Adrian Monk, eight years portraying the obsessive-compulsive private investigator is enough for him.

The second half of the seventh season of "Monk" began airing Friday on the USA Network, and the Green Bay native will start shooting the last season in March.

"It's a great job, and I work with great people, and I really enjoy doing the character, but I think eight years is enough," he said in a phone interview Thursday. "I think we've kind of explored all the avenues we could possibly cover, and as much as I like the show and working on it, I really do want to think about moving onto whatever the next chapter might be."

Shalhoub appeared Thursday evening at the opening of RDI Stages in Milwaukee as a way to support Wisconsin's tax incentives for filmmakers.

Shalhoub also produces "Monk" and said he wants to produce more after the detective show ends.

"I think I want to keep acting, but I want to branch out and maybe be a producer on things I'm not acting in," he said.

He's on a three-month hiatus from the show now and will start filming his part in the independent film "Feed the Fish" next month in Wisconsin.

Shalhoub has won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work on "Monk" and is nominated for another Golden Globe in the ceremony that airs Sunday.

___

On the Net:

"Monk" Web site:
http://www.usanetwork.com/
series/monk/index.html

[Associated Press; By CARRIE ANTLFINGER]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.