Harvey Guillén – What We Do in the Shadows

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) When you first began reading about that role and the initial scripts what was your character described like and what really stood out to you?

A) You know what’s so funny is that this is the first time in my career that I’ve gone through booking something which was totally unorthodox. I went to a wine and cheese night and I met someone there and we were talking about the industry. The next day I got a text from an unknown number and it was her (Yvonne). When I originally went in to audition it was because of her. She said, “You have to audition for this show! You’d be perfect for it! We reached out to the casting director and she’s amazing!” I wanted to go in because I was such a fan of her work. The role was actually for someone twenty years older than I am. I thought, “This is going to be hard because he’s twenty-five years older than I am and I can only age myself up so much.” A couple of summers ago I was playing someone in high school! This summer I’m supposed to age myself?! I just thought, “I’m going to go in there and give it my all and I’ll do it the way I think the character will be at this age.” I did that and it turned out for the best because I ended up booking it. I never tested for it. I knew that I was going to test, but then I got a call from my agent saying that I was going to test and didn’t know when. Then, I got a call from a sixteen-number phone number (which is obviously out of the country) and it was Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement calling to say I booked it off the tape. The story came out later that it was voted unanimously by FX, Scott Rudin, Paul Simms, Taika, Jemaine – everyone voted unanimously that I was booking this role and that hadn’t happened before. Other great actors auditioned for the role but they were 60/40 or 70/30. It was just not unanimous. All of a sudden when I auditioned, they said, “That’s him!” I have a picture that I took the day of the audition because I dressed myself to look older, parted my hair and wore these Harry Potter glasses and I popped the lenses out. I wore this greyish sweater vest and a bright orange long sleeved shirt that didn’t match. I look at that picture and the first day on set Taika said, “What did you do for the audition?” I told him and he said, “Yep. Do that.” Wardrobe and makeup took a picture the first day on set and it would seem like it was the same day. They copied the hair, the design, glasses and everything that I used for the audition.

Q) You are so expressive with your comedy in your eyes. You are fantastic at comedic delivery with your eyes as much as you are with the words. What do you attribute that to?

A) I think with Guillermo he’s like a human surrogate. He’s like the eyes and ears of the audience. So, I’m only reacting how any human would react in that moment where sometimes the conversations are so monotonous. He’s not a vampire and we’re not vampires watching this documentary. They live in their own world. The stuff that they have to deal with is completely different and Guillermo has to cover up for them because they can’t be outed. No one can know that they are vampires because then an angry mob would be after them. It’s a social commentary, isn’t it? When someone is different or outed for being different, they become a target. So, in a way, Guillermo is so protective of that because he wants to be a part of that world and he needs to protect it in order to become a part of that. So, he has like a double job – he’s protecting his master’s identity and protecting it for himself because there is no future guaranteed if anything happens to the vampires. A lot of the time Guillermo isn’t allowed to express how he feels, but his face says a million words because he’ll tell you a whole story just by the rolling of an eye. Sometimes not saying anything is more powerful than having a million words.

Q) I love how you play so well off of Kayvan Novak, you have this witty banter that tickles as much as it titillates you. Can you talk about this great balance you both bring as master and familiar? 

A) When I first got the part, I had never met Kayvan and I was a little worried. I know that as an actor you get to set and you’ll meet the person playing your sister or family member or love interest and I’d never met Kayvan and I was to play his familiar. Once I met him, within in seconds I was like, “Oh my gosh!” It was a dream! I felt so connected with him. He came on set and was such a giving actor. He will want to go out of his way to go over lines just so we can get the rhythm and it comes off organically. He’s been a dream. He can improvise with you forever. He said, “I have a bromance with Harvey because of the connection we have,” and I would agree with that. I like literally love that guy. He’s so talented and I think this is the perfect casting. I think this is the perfect role for him and I so how lucky are he and I to get to work together? People just love the dynamic between Guillermo and Nandor. They play off the master-familiar relationship and it’s also a little homoerotic and the question arises of what is going on. It’s just the connection they have of working with him for ten years that you start to saying something and it’s never solidified.

Q) Guillermo has been waiting ten years as Nandor’s familiar to be turned. What will Guillermo do if his wishes aren’t answered by wants? It reminds me of watching “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” where Lilith has an entire life is servitude and still at the end she was not given what she truly wanted and was promised.

A) In the pilot he thought he was going to be rewarded with the bite when he’s celebrating the anniversary. For vampires, what is time? They are immortal and have no sense of time because it goes by so fast for them. So, when Nandor says, “Really?!” It’s been ten years and he thought it was two. In his head, Guillermo has only been there for two years and Guillermo has given ten years of his life to something. I think we can all relate to that as humans giving ourselves into a business or a relationship (whether it be romantic or friendship) and then you hear back from that person, business or industry and they don’t see you the same way as you’ve been seeing yourself through their eyes. It’s kind of heartbreaking because Guillermo has been waiting for this. He was going to be made a vampire and in theory he was! Nandor made him into a vampire by glitter portrait! He did keep his word. Unfortunately, when you manifest things and put it out in the universe Guillermo should have been very specific about the kind of vampire. Also, there is a really quick moment where you see him by the window closing the blinds and he realizes that even though human we’re still very powerful and we do have control over things. We see that as he leaves the curtain open for a little bit too long and the sun starts beaming on the coffin. We see that when you’re powerful, even at your lowest of lows, whatever you feel in your business, career, love life, etc. you are more powerful than you think. You have a choice and you can make a choice. I think that’s always important to remember. For Guillermo, he’s starting to realize that he may not be vampire, but there are things he can control so maybe it’s time to take matters into his own hands. Sometimes we follow the rules and we play by the book and sometimes those things don’t pan out and it’s because we tried it one way, we really did, by the books and now I’m going to try it my way. I did it your way and now I’m going to try it my way. I’m going to take matters into my own hands. As the episodes progresses, we find out that someone who is so fresh to the group with Amy’s character becomes a vampire and she just popped in. She just popped in and she gets turned into a vampire overnight, basically. Here I am ten years later…So, you’ll see a little bit of resentment and anger come out of that because who wouldn’t be? [laughs] I feel like everyone can relate to Guillermo because we’ve all been him at one point or another.

Q) What kind of feedback have fans been sending in regards to Guillermo?

A) I’ve seen the messages people put on boards or on Instagram or Twitter and they are like, “I just met Guillermo five minutes ago, but if anything happens to him I swear I’ll kill you!” [laughs]

Q) The cinematography really adds to the darkness and dramedy of the series. It’s an exceptional element that plays up the acting and the emotion. Can you talk about how this helps play up the themes and undertones of the series?

A) Absolutely! Our DP is amazing and we have the most amazing set decorators. No inch has been left unthought of! Literally everything has been thought of down to the paper in the journals. We have books in the library that are over 200 years old. I literally picked up a book and it was an authentic book from 1790! It was ridiculous! I was like, “What?! Should we have this?!” I felt like, “Should we have this?! Whoa!” Everyone is just so passionate about the project that every department is going above and beyond to make it the best that it can be. The way it is shot, even though it is a mockumentary, it’s still shot so beautiful. I love all the scenes inside of the house with the lighting by candlelight and chandelier. It’s just amazing to look at and think, “This is the world that we live in.” It’s beautiful. I always say that it’s “tragically gorgeous.” People who love horror films and horror stories love it because of the genre, but the actual comedy aspect of it is what gels it so well together. You wouldn’t think it goes well together (scary vampires and comedy), but it does because the circumstances are so ridiculous. They are vampires living in America dealing with City Hall meetings and just forming alliances – every mundane stuff humans have to go through, but they’re vampires. They can fly. They can transform into bats. They can kill you by sucking your blood. Those are just another added level of these heightened circumstances.

Q) Occult series have become pretty popular again with “Legacies,” “Discovery of Witches,” “Charmed,” etc. What is it about this genre that push boundaries but also has a lot of political/topical issues embedded in its fantasies?

A) We talked before about my experiences working on the show “The Magicians,” which is such a great show! It’s so great how everyone in Fillory looks like everyone from around the world and they never address it as being different. It’s just what it is and we are all the same. That’s such a great credit to the creators and Sera Gamble who built that world for us so we never have to question it going in. We just go in and this is the world and we accept it. This is the way it should be, it’s cohesive and it works. Everyone is living with each other and it’s not harmonious, but it’s not harmonious for the wrong reasons. It’s not harmonious for the stupid reasons of color of skin, background or sexual preference. It’s never not harmonious because of those things, which makes us human. What I love about what this series is that if you look at the couple of episodes, we’ve aired already we don’t talk about sexual preference, but experiences and the vampires have stories. Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and her partner have sexual preferences for both men and women and it’s never address as to whether she is bi or if they are pan sexual. It never addresses a title, it just addressed as an experience. We’ll be talking in confessionals and Matt Berry will say something like, “Him and I had a very intimate sexual relationship back in the day” and talking about the Baron (Doug Jones). They had sex with the Baron and they, themselves, were a couple with the Baron. Looking at that as to “are they a, b or c” or “are they this title” we never address that title. It’s just an experience and that’s what it is. That’s what they felt like doing and that’s what they did. And there is no shame in it. There is no being a target or being ostracized for the choices they made. They stand by their choices and I think that’s kind of great we address it that way where it’s just doing what you want to do with whomever you feel like doing it. Those should be the last thing you need to talk about because it shouldn’t be the main issue of anything. That’s what I love about this world we created. We talk about it; it was said and that was that. I think we can learn a lot about the new way we’re doing shows – like social commentary with vampires! [laughs]

Q) Anything else you can share coming up?

A) I’ve been producing more and writing more lately. This series that I produced last year “The Filth” that my writing partner Jamie Holt directed, who is an amazing director. We’re so excited that it’s going to be premiering this summer at a huge LGBTQ film festival. Hopefully, by the end of summer it will be available for everyone to watch. You can look up more information at thefilthseries.com. You can see the trailer. We have amazing cameos in it. All of my friends came out. We have Colleen Ballinger in it, Jessica Marie Garcia, Beverly D’Angelo and Danny Franzese, Chester Lockhart. We have so many people who have graced us with their presence! It’s just a great series and I’m really proud of it. I’m proud that it’s a great queer story and it has a melting pot of talented artists who bring it to life. Definitely check that out and go to the website.