'What We Do in the Shadows' star Harvey Guillén on playing Guillermo and what to expect in Season 2
Actor Harvey Guillén has donned many hats in both film and television but one of his most famous roles is that of Guillermo in the FX comedy show ‘What We Do in the Shadows’. The vampire mockumentary series created by Jemaine Clement (based on his and Taika Waititi’s 2014 film of the same name) that centers on the misadventures of Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) sees Guillén play the role of a human familiar of Nandor.
While familiars usually play a role of servitude to their vampire masters, the end of the show’s first season changed the dynamics a little bit (actually a lot) when Guillermo discovers he’s a descendant of Van Helsing, the vampire hunter. Discussing that and more, Guillén had a casual chat with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW).
“So I feel like, there's always that master and servant dynamic between them, but it's also borderline homoerotic and it's kind of a, ‘are they, will they, what's going on?’ and I feel like this season, we definitely have a really challenging episode where Guillermo may have had enough, no more beating around the bush,” said Guillén. “And there's definitely an episode where [the ancestry] is brought up and it may change the course of destiny. So definitely, we do dive into that this season. And I think the audience is gonna love that.”
When asked about what audiences should be looking out for in Season 2 of the show, Guillén said that one of the definite highlights of the upcoming season was the cameos and guest appearances. “We have a great lineup as has been announced right off the bat with Haley Joel Osment. We have Mark Hamill. We have Marissa Jaret Winokur, you know, she was the original Tracy Turnblad on ‘Hairspray’ on Broadway. We have such great cameos. It's so exciting. And the storyline, I think everyone should look forward to the big finale of season two because it's a doozy.”
Guillén, speaking about his acting process on the show, said that there was a lot of improvisation involved despite the well-written scripts. “When you get the set, you do like maybe one or two takes with actual scripted lines and then you get to play. And I would say like 80 percent of the improv usually, somehow a little bit of it ends up in the final cut. Always. It just makes the show feel organic. It doesn't feel like we're playing this symphony note by note. It feels like it's like loose jazz.”
He added that a lot of times, it would be difficult to keep a straight face while shooting, given the sheer hilarity of the scenes. “I work with Kayvan who is the funniest man in the world, and he's just like, he can give you 30 different takes without stopping. So, yeah, working with him, I always break character. Everyone's so funny and so good at what they do that it's just hard to not [laugh], so I can't wait for just the bloopers to come out.”
On being asked about what he felt about Guillermo’s journey in the second season and if it matched his expectations, Guillén said, “They won't tell us what happens in every season until we show up to work. So like, I didn't know where we're going… I knew that we were going to go into [his ancestry] maybe a little bit, but I mean, we go off to the races on episode one of season two, and I was really pleased and I was like, there was more than I could have imagined.”
He further said, “They throw you curveballs along the way. And as an actor, that's kind of great, because that's challenging. I had to get a personal trainer and go to the gym three times a week before I go to set, to get upper body strength just because I would be doing my own stunts.”
He added that he did all his own stunts, with the exception of one, in the second season even though he had a stunt double on the sets. “That was kind of a cool challenge and physical and like, you know... which I was not a part of last season. This season has been a different journey for Guillermo and for myself, as an actor. So I'm really happy with the results. Can't wait for everyone to see it.”
‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 2 premieres on FX on April 15 at 10 pm ET/PT.
