Interview: The Cast and Producers of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Say Farewell to the Staten Island Vampires

All good things must come to an end, even if you’re immortal. For the Staten Island vampires of What We Do In the Shadows the beginning of the end has arrived as the final season premiered last week. While many fans may be sad to see them go, the first three episodes of this farewell season show that the series hasn’t lost its comedic bite.

Awards Radar sat down to speak with the cast (Matt Berry – Emmy-nominated for his role in 2024, Harvey Gullien, Mark Proksch and Kayvan Novak – sadly, Natasia Demetriou was absent ) and the EP/Writers (Paul Sims, Sam Johnson, and Sarah Naftalis) while in town for New York Comic Con. After five hilarious seasons it was kind of surreal sitting down with my favorite vampires substituting modern attire for the lavish costumes they wear throughout the series. Not missing were their senses of humor or the fond memories about the beloved series.

Shadows has earned 29 Emmy nominations, including it first acting nod for Matt Berry last season. In a fair world the series will walk away with many more than its single Emmy win to date (a very deserving trophy for costumes). Consistently one of the funniest, if not the funniest, shows on TV even as it enters its final season. When speaking with the cast, instead of getting details about what viewers will see, I explored how they were able to make this immortally comedic gem.

Our conversations spanned the entire series, from the cast’s initial impressions upon joining to reflections on the finale and beyond. Here are some highlights that offer insight into what makes the series truly special.

THE SHOW BEGINNINGS: It’s difficult to picture What We Do in the Shadows not being a hit, especially after seeing thousands of fans fill the NYCC Empire Room, many of them decked out cosplaying their favorite characters from the show. However, those involved were uncertain about the series’ reception and how audiences would embrace the characters, despite being based on the world created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi in their 2014 film.

Matt Berry (Laszlo Cravensworth): This was obviously a cult film to begin with that I had a lot of affection for. So to do a series, and to do a series without those characters that they had all the affection for, was a massive risk. Because, I mean, despite what anyone says, I don’t think anybody could have told you that it was going to be a success, because there were a lot of things that were going against it, from what I’ve just said. But we weren’t canceled, you know, so there was something that went right.

Kayvan Novak (Nandor the Relentless): I was a big fan of the movie. So then when I got the email from my manager saying, do you want to audition for this? I was like, oh my God, yes. I wasn’t even really concerned whether people would like it or not. I was just so excited that they were going to do it, that I could now be part of this world potentially. But, of course, I wanted it so bad, I was like, ‘well, I’m never going to get it.’ Then, doing the pilot, having Jermaine and Taika direct the pilot, playing vampire in front of the two blokes that played vampires that I loved so beautifully – it was very daunting for me.

Thankfully, they cast this guy (Harvey), and it made my life and job not only easier, more pleasurable and hilariously wonderful than I could ever imagine.

Harvey Guillén (Guillermo de la Cruz): They waited until the last day before they started production to call me and say, you got the part. You go to a fitting on Tuesday and then film on Wednesday. It happened so quick. And my fear was with this character, they would have to have chemistry.

So when I met Kayvon, my stress just went out the door. Because I was like, ‘oh my gosh, thank God,’ because it could have gone terribly wrong. And it has been a pleasure ever since. It’s been nothing but a joy to do this show. We know how lucky we are. So that’s kind of better, because we can really enjoy and savor the moment. Now that we know it’s coming to an end, we’ve enjoyed it even more.

Mark Proksch (Colin Robinson): In season one I was a little concerned about actually being hated, like being a character that is actually hated. I didn’t want to be like the Screech of a cool show, and so that luckily was resolved by building up the character a little more. But yeah, I mean, it is insane when you start a show and you’re like, oh, this is a crazy show. It’s really fun.

There’s no way we’re going to get a season two, and then you get a season two, and then you’re, no way we’re going to get a season three, and then when people start sending you photos of their friends who didn’t know that their friends with you dressed up as your character for Halloween, it’s such a bizarre feeling that your head can’t really comprehend that other people love that character so much.

DEVELOPING CHARACTERS: From a team of writers known for their endless array of original characters and creative situations, the inspiration often comes directly from the actors themselves.

Paul Simms (Executive Producer/Writer): The characters all came up in different ways. Like the fact that Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) was from a little Mediterranean island and was a village girl, that came just from a joke she made while she was auditioning about how she lived in the village and she used to chase all the snakes out. That was not anything that we thought of before. From the kernel of that, then it became that she was from a Mediterranean island and that she was turned into a vampire very young.

More of Nandor’s stuff was there, but also a lot of that depended on casting. He was always supposed to be a warrior, but until we cast Kayvan, that’s when he became a Persian warrior from the ancient civilization of Alconadar. A lot of the personal things about the actors themselves get incorporated or exaggerated into their characters.

Sam Johnson (Executive Producer/Writer): It’s also like on a normal show, you can only go, you know, you can go to that well only so many times before it’s like, this is now established about this character, this is stuff we know, but for people who have lived 300 or 400 years, you know, there’s so much.

Sarah Naftalis (Executive Producer/Writer): It is pretty fun. I feel like with a lot of characters, though, like you only have, you know, their 45 or 50 years of life experience with all of them. You’d be like, well, 300 years ago, let’s make up something that happened to them. So it’s more fun to write characters who have been alive for centuries.

Paul Simms: But at the same time, there have been things that have just been meant to be just stand-alone jokes in an episode that became even a bigger part. Like Colin Robinson was originally in the pilot. It was supposed to be sort of just a joke in the pilot. Wouldn’t it be funny if these vampires have an energy vampire for a roommate. But Mark was so funny that it was in episode two and three and they were like, you should be a full cast member and all that.

So a lot of stuff comes up. The Nadja doll was something that came up because we had an episode where Nadja’s ghost, from when she was alive, needed a vessel to inhabit and that’s how the Nadja doll came about. We never planned for the Nadja doll to be like a full character for the rest of the series, but when things work well, just keep doing them over and over again.

GETTING INTO CHARACTER: Two sentiments echoed by every member of the cast and ‘Shadows’ team were how vital the writers’ work is to the success of the series and another you do not hear as often – how much the production design and costumes factor into bringing this world and characters to life. During our conversation I made a comment to Mark and Matt about how it must be like being a kid again, you throw on a cowboy hat and boots and suddenly you’re John Wayne. The actors explained how it extends well beyond that.

Mark Proksch: (Expanding on my analogy) Imagine putting on that cowboy costume and then having someone build out an Old West for you. I mean, that’s what they did for us. There would be a pile of, like, just bones and garbage, and underneath that would still be more bones and garbage.

It wasn’t just Styrofoam or something. And that authenticity lends itself to the performances. Same with the wardrobe. Then you get to play off each other, which only you can elevate that even more.

Matt Berry: It’s all intentional, yeah. It’s a very sort of rich show in terms of how it looks. I mean, the attention to detail with the set. I always go on about the set, but the set is so important in how you kind of behave in that world. If it didn’t look like that then you wouldn’t be as easy to portray those characters – if there hadn’t been all that detail where they live and in their costumes.

Those things have really helped. Those two elements shouldn’t be overlooked when we talk about this show. The fact that the sets were some of the best I’ve ever worked on – same with the costumes. Just such high quality.

Harvey Guillén:  Our voices change a little bit since the pilot, our mannerisms, because we’re also finding the characters. I only had maybe 48 hours to come up with what were going to be my choices. Then I do the choices that will set the tone for this character.

Even down making the choice to wear a long-sleeved shirt with a sweater vest and popped out lenses from my Harry Potter glasses and did my hair in the middle and parted it. Making those choices is what Taika liked. So they actually mimicked those looks and choices for the actual character.

Who’d ever think the choices you made for a quick audition is going to determine seven years of your life. 

TEASING THE FINAL SEASON:
Kayvan Novak: Guillermo’s trying to get on with his life without Nandor. And, you know, to have such a dysfunctional relationship come to an end in a way, Nandor has to invent a reason to stay in Guillermo’s life. Because Guillermo doesn’t need Nandor for anything. And that’s the first time this has happened in their entire relationship.

He ended up… He wanted to be a vampire. He turned him into a vampire. Then he didn’t want to be a vampire anymore. So it’s like, where do you go from there? I think having Guillermo step outside the house and the world and try and forge ahead in the real world and see how that would affect Nandor, the way they’ve done it is hilarious and also allowed me to play Nandor in a slightly different way because I was pretending to be a janitor in an office that Guillermo was working in.

Mark Proksch: I would say my favorite Colin Robinson moment is coming up this season. There’s a scene where you learn a lot about how Colin views the house and the roommates. That’s about all I can say. He goes into quite a bit of detail with visuals. And I think that sums Colin Robinson up.

Colin’s the type of character that you can kind of put into any scenario as a kind of glue or a balance against the other blood-sucking vampires. And I feel like this season that really clicked. I’m enjoying it.

JACKIE DAYTONA: One of the best episodes of television ever (others agree), S2E6 ‘On the Run’ was an instant classic. Trying to evade a 200-year old unpaid rent bill owed to an old friend (Mark Hamill), Laszlo goes incognito as a “regular human bartender” at a small town bar. His disguise of choice, a pair of jeans and a toothpick. 

Paul Simms: There were two times I laughed hardest when reading the script that the writers had turned in when they added things that we had to talk about.

One was when America Sawyer wrote the episode that was the parody of a home renovation show. It’s hosted by two brothers – and as soon as they walk into the house one of them gets killed by Nadja. I really laughed at that. And the second one, Laszlo turns into Jackie Daytona and his disguise is a pair of blue jeans. Stephanie Robinson wrote that and that just cracked me up. 

Just the idea that suddenly our documentary would veer off in this wild other direction and be a documentary about an impoverished coal town in Pennsylvania. This dashing stranger who comes to lift everyone’s spirits.

Matt Berry: The toothpick joke, that’s one of the best jokes. Do you know what I mean? So a lot of the work was kind of done for me with that one joke. It was a huge honor to do that. I’m just really sort of chuffed that people liked it. Because you don’t know when you’re doing it, you know, it could all go to tits but it didn’t, thankfully.

At the NYCC panel the moderator praised the producers for resisting the temptation to bring back Jackie Daytona. And just when you thought we saw the last of the regular human bartender, the producers dropped a glimmer of hope.

Paul Simms: You know, when you get to the last season of a show, though, you think sometimes maybe we want to give them another taste of what they love so much. And I’m not making any promises, but we’ll see.

ENDING THE SERIES: The announcement of the sixth season of ‘Shadows’ being its final season  took everyone by surprise and had many fans asking, why? While it is unlikely any answer will satisfy the fans, the cast and producers seem to be at terms with the decision. With that said, it is hard not to be excited to see what these final episodes bring, even if  

Sam Johnson:  Expect murder, mayhem and a lot of office stuff.

Matt Berry: I think it’s good. I think it’s come at the right time. And like I said, it’s good to go out, you know, while people are still into it. You don’t want to be hanging around and have people, like, resenting the show.  I’m happy with the work we did and how it ended up.  I think it will be satisfying for the viewers. I’m looking forward to it.

Paul Simms: I think that without telling any details, I think the finale, our last episode, is one of our best episodes ever. And I think it’ll be very satisfying if people have watched it forever. If it was the first episode you ever watched, you would laugh.

It’s funny and there’s good surprises in it. It’s our crown jewel. Our pinnacle.

The 11-episode final season of What We Do In the Shadows will continue with new episodes every Monday on FX and stream the following day on Hulu.