At the 2020 New York Comic-Con, the cast and producers of the FX comedy series, What We Do in the Shadows, joined a virtual panel to discuss its upcoming third season and past moments from its first two installments. The virtual panel included the cast members of Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker) as Nandor, Natasia Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats) as Nadia, Harvey Guillén (The Internship) as Guillermo, Matt Berry (The IT Crowd) as Laszlo, and Mark Proksch (Better Call Saul, The Office) as Colin Robinson. Producer and co-showrunner Stefani Robinson (Fargo, Atlanta) also was featured on the panel alongside producer Paul Simms (NewsRadio, Atlanta). The half-hour comedy received a half-hour virtual slot following their eight Emmy nominations for its second season.
What We Do in the Shadows is a half-hour comedy series based on Taika Waititi’s (Jojo Rabbit) 2014 under the same name. The film and series center on a group of vampires living together in an apartment or house as they are followed by a small film crew, documenting their everyday lives. The series is created by Jermaine Clement (Rio) and is executive produced by Clement, Waititi, Simms, Robinson, Eli Bush (Lady Bird), Scott Rudin (School of Rock, No Country for Old Men), and Garret Basch (The Night Of). However, Clement has announced his departure from the show’s writing staff for the upcoming third season.
Due to the group of vampires’ nefarious schemes throughout the first two seasons, the topic of how COVID-19 will affect their characters actions was a main talking point. The cast believed that their vampire characters would not be affected by the virus itself and only Guillén’s Guillermo would be subject to the possible infection. Proksch, who portrays energy vampire Colin Robinson, found peace in knowing that his character would behave in the manner of an anti-masker. “Colin Robinson would be a no-masker, for obvious reasons. He feeds at his office… I would be going without masks getting in arguments, claiming it’s my constitutional right,” said Proksch. Guillén references that the group of vampires could have been responsible for past pandemics and their attitudes may be more indifferent than the human characters such as his own would be.
Concerning the relationship between Novak’s Nandor and Guillén’s Guillermo, the pair discussed the complicated relationship between the vampire and his familiar. At the close of season two, it was revealed to the rest of the house that Guillermo has been acting as a vampire hunter, but only for protection for his housemates that he serves, particularly his boss in Nandor the Great. “I made the choice early on to make Guillermo crossing the line of being infatuated with his boss…he does everything with love and kindness. Why is he still here? Deep down inside, he ends up protecting the whole household even when the rest of the vampires are complete jerks to him,” said Guillén. Novak gave a brief synopsis of the dynamic between the two character’s relationships and what the audience can expect in the upcoming season. “I am excited to see what happens with that relationship [Nandor and Guillermo]. It’s going to get rocky,” said Novak.
Executive producer Simms gave some fans a few hints about what to expect in the upcoming third season. First and foremost, he addressed storylines centering on the fan-favorite Colin Robinson and a possible birthday and life event to occur. Additionally, Simms also described some new additions to the show’s monster universe and a potential episode on a road trip with the housemates and Guillermo. “At least three or four new kinds [of] creatures,” said Simms when referring to the growing universe the FX series has built for itself.
Currently, it is unknown when a third season would be able to conduct and finish production in the age of COVID-19 in addition to a lack of an expected premiere date as well. For interested fans of the comedy series, check out the full panel below: