The first thing you notice on the What We Do in the Shadows set is that they really built a whole ass haunted house. Shadows is made alongside a busy street in a Toronto suburb. The outer facade of the house—the steps, topiaries, and stained glass windows—face traffic, and cars slowed down as a group of media journalists (including yours truly) made their way around the production lot, getting a first-hand look at where the FX show is filmed.
Also I laid down in Nandor’s coffin. I feel like that’s important to tell people, like, straight off the bat. (Get it? Bat!)
The set spans two sections of a warehouse—you can walk through halls, around nooks and crannies, and up staircases—and is a functional, immersive experience for the actors. As we were taking a tour of the music room one of the set designers began touching up the wallpaper, adding a new panel and dirtying it so that it matched the rest of the room. Each piece of furniture, decor, and art is carefully chosen and curated to establish the kitbashy weirdness that makes the show’s interior details so wonderful.
The group was also allowed to observe a scene as it was filmed. We sat in front of a cluster of monitors that looked into the library set room. As the actors riffed on lines and attempted different deliveries, I got the impression that these performers are really sorting through what works and what doesn’t in the moment, and are committed to the improv style that makes What We Do in the Shadows so funny in the first place.
After the tour of the set we got to interview the actors and directors. Perched in what was more or less a conference room with a ton of snacks, we chatted with Natasia Demetriou about Nadja’s narcissism and outfits, how her odd-pairing girlfriends (the Guide and the Doll) brought out the best and worst of her, and how much she loved making her scenes awkward and absurd. Kristen Schall–the Guide–also showed up! She was incredibly warm, and said she loved exploring the Guide’s identity as she struggles to become part of the group now that they’re not members of the Vampiric Council.
Harvey Guillén, who plays my best friend Guillermo de la Cruz, got sent in midway through our interview with Schall, dressed in scrubs and clearly coming straight from the set for a quick chat with us. He described Guillermo as being at a “crossroads” where he has to decide who he really is and what he really wants. “He could go either way,” Guillén said, joking “Buffy who?” when asked about his vampire slayer abilities.
When Matt Berry, who plays Laszlo, came in, he was happy to chat about some of his most famous line deliveries, reminding us that he really didn’t realize that he was popular in America until people shouted, “Bat!” at him. He has a deep love for toxic power couple Nadja and Laszlo, and he mentioned that he thought the action incorporated into the show—stunts and wire work—is what really sets What We Do in the Shadows apart from other comedy shows.
Kayvan Novak showed up, and I have to tell you that his hair is real, and whatever makeup they put on Nandor to make him appear pale on screen does the man no favors. During the transition between seasons, Novak said that Nandor was “Nandoring about” in a very melancholy way. He’s looking for love, a kind of universal feeling, and even though he has a life partner in Guillermo, Novak said that he thinks “Harvey’s been looking at too much Nandermo fanart.”
It was especially exciting when Mark Proksch, who plays the energy vampire Colin Robinson, was able to come in to talk to us. It was his day off! After a whole season of having his face cut-and-pasted onto a child he was glad to be back to acting in his “real” body. Proksch said he understands why fans want to learn more about energy vampire lore—but after two seasons focusing on how energy vampires came to be, he was happy to get back to some classic Shadows hijinks.
Our last stop on the tour was the prop house. The team pulled out a bunch of toys for us to mess with, and even showed off some of the older pieces—the fairy from season four’s “The Night Market” looked like it would have been at home on a Guillermo del Toro set. We got to play around with the Sire’s mask, a fully-animated, remote controlled prosthesis. And we learned something very fun: in earlier seasons the prop work and prosthetics have been more restrained, but for the upcoming season the team got to expand into a larger studio to create some incredible pieces. Laszlo, who considers himself a vampire of science, is back and ready to experiment, and the stuff we’ll see on screen in season five is going to be gruesome and weird.
The whole experience was wonderfully inviting: a deep dive into the lore and legend of What We Do in the Shadows, and showed a focused environment of professional vampire lovers.
What We Do in the Shadows season five premieres July 13 on FX, and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
The first thing you notice on the What We Do in the Shadows set is that they really built a whole ass haunted house. Shadows is made alongside a busy street in a Toronto suburb. The outer facade of the house—the steps, topiaries, and stained glass windows—face traffic, and cars slowed down as a group of media journalists (including yours truly) made their way around the production lot, getting a first-hand look at where the FX show is filmed.
Also I laid down in Nandor’s coffin. I feel like that’s important to tell people, like, straight off the bat. (Get it? Bat!)
The set spans two sections of a warehouse—you can walk through halls, around nooks and crannies, and up staircases—and is a functional, immersive experience for the actors. As we were taking a tour of the music room one of the set designers began touching up the wallpaper, adding a new panel and dirtying it so that it matched the rest of the room. Each piece of furniture, decor, and art is carefully chosen and curated to establish the kitbashy weirdness that makes the show’s interior details so wonderful.
The group was also allowed to observe a scene as it was filmed. We sat in front of a cluster of monitors that looked into the library set room. As the actors riffed on lines and attempted different deliveries, I got the impression that these performers are really sorting through what works and what doesn’t in the moment, and are committed to the improv style that makes What We Do in the Shadows so funny in the first place.
After the tour of the set we got to interview the actors and directors. Perched in what was more or less a conference room with a ton of snacks, we chatted with Natasia Demetriou about Nadja’s narcissism and outfits, how her odd-pairing girlfriends (the Guide and the Doll) brought out the best and worst of her, and how much she loved making her scenes awkward and absurd. Kristen Schall–the Guide–also showed up! She was incredibly warm, and said she loved exploring the Guide’s identity as she struggles to become part of the group now that they’re not members of the Vampiric Council.
Harvey Guillén, who plays my best friend Guillermo de la Cruz, got sent in midway through our interview with Schall, dressed in scrubs and clearly coming straight from the set for a quick chat with us. He described Guillermo as being at a “crossroads” where he has to decide who he really is and what he really wants. “He could go either way,” Guillén said, joking “Buffy who?” when asked about his vampire slayer abilities.
When Matt Berry, who plays Laszlo, came in, he was happy to chat about some of his most famous line deliveries, reminding us that he really didn’t realize that he was popular in America until people shouted, “Bat!” at him. He has a deep love for toxic power couple Nadja and Laszlo, and he mentioned that he thought the action incorporated into the show—stunts and wire work—is what really sets What We Do in the Shadows apart from other comedy shows.
Kayvan Novak showed up, and I have to tell you that his hair is real, and whatever makeup they put on Nandor to make him appear pale on screen does the man no favors. During the transition between seasons, Novak said that Nandor was “Nandoring about” in a very melancholy way. He’s looking for love, a kind of universal feeling, and even though he has a life partner in Guillermo, Novak said that he thinks “Harvey’s been looking at too much Nandermo fanart.”
It was especially exciting when Mark Proksch, who plays the energy vampire Colin Robinson, was able to come in to talk to us. It was his day off! After a whole season of having his face cut-and-pasted onto a child he was glad to be back to acting in his “real” body. Proksch said he understands why fans want to learn more about energy vampire lore—but after two seasons focusing on how energy vampires came to be, he was happy to get back to some classic Shadows hijinks.
Our last stop on the tour was the prop house. The team pulled out a bunch of toys for us to mess with, and even showed off some of the older pieces—the fairy from season four’s “The Night Market” looked like it would have been at home on a Guillermo del Toro set. We got to play around with the Sire’s mask, a fully-animated, remote controlled prosthesis. And we learned something very fun: in earlier seasons the prop work and prosthetics have been more restrained, but for the upcoming season the team got to expand into a larger studio to create some incredible pieces. Laszlo, who considers himself a vampire of science, is back and ready to experiment, and the stuff we’ll see on screen in season five is going to be gruesome and weird.
The whole experience was wonderfully inviting: a deep dive into the lore and legend of What We Do in the Shadows, and showed a focused environment of professional vampire lovers.
What We Do in the Shadows season five premieres July 13 on FX, and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.