Interview with the vampires: the return of What We Do in the Shadows – The Guardian

When youre cooped up at home all day, cohabiting with people who may not have complementary personalities, its important to keep the lines of communication open. Regular house meetings can address such simmering resentments as blood stains on the sofa, half-drunk orgy guests left cluttering up the hall or, as in the new series of sitcom What We Do in the Shadows, when the house reeks of decaying flesh and there are dead birds everywhere.

These are agenda items brought up by Nandor the Relentless, a 758-year-old vampire, former soldier of the Ottoman empire and the pernickety, self-appointed leader of this houseshare in a decaying New York mansion. Nandor (Kayvan Novak) lives with his long-suffering human familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guilln), aristocratic English bloodsucker Laszlo (Matt Berry), Laszlos fun-loving vamp wife Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), an energy vampire who gains sustenance from boring his victims half to death. Now on its second series, What We Do in the Shadows is full of useful lifestyle hacks for lockdown, as Demetriou, speaking from her London home, appreciates: What have I learned? That patience is a virtue and even if you think somethings gonna last for ever, just I dont know kill people? And then itll go quicker?

Of course, the genius of a sitcom about vampires goes much deeper than its accidental relevance to the moment were in. The idea to capture the real lives of monsters previously glamorised by such pop culture phenomena as the Twilight franchise began 9,000 miles away from New York in New Zealand, as a short film made by sometime collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

The initial inspiration, says Clement, was humanitys bottomless capacity for petty grudges. I think, probably, most people have things that happened in their childhood that they still get angry about, he says. What if this was stretched out over hundreds of years?

This grew into the 2014 cult comedy film, also called What We Do in the Shadows, about an undead, all-male flat-share in suburban Wellington. And when that was a success, Waititi and Clement began fielding phone calls from US TV network execs interested in taking it further. This wasnt entirely surprising to Clement, who has long understood the sitcom potential of characters who, fundamentally, never change.

We pitched the show as Immigrants in Time. So, theyre foreigners, not only from a different country but from a different time, and their house is like the time machine that doesnt change as the world changes around them.

Its Kiwi roots aside, What We Do in the Shadows uses a mockumentary style associated with such quintessential US sitcoms as Parks and Recreation and Modern Family. Juxtaposing their mundane suburban settings the shopping mall, the car park, even a local city council meeting with the fantastical lore of the vampire is what keeps things fresh. In season two, for instance, the housemates attend their neighbours Super Bowl party (a mix-up based on the vampires traditional respect for fellow nocturnal creature, the superb owl). Once there, Nadja finds herself chatting in the kitchen with the other wives (You love wine!) and dismayed at the human institution of matrimony (How did you all end up married to such boiled potatoes?).

As Nadja is the only woman in the main cast, Demetriou was wary of allowing her characterisation to drift into formulaic sitcom sexism. Thats really important to me, that she isnt just a sort of eye-rolling female housemate, she says. I want her to be as opinionated and stupid and wrong and right and thick and disgusting and horny as the men. So is Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows a feminist icon, then? Oh, 100%. In fact, forget Nadja, I am a feminist icon. Forget feminist I am an icon.

Another integral element of the show thats switching up for season two is Nandors friendship if you can call it that with Guillermo. As a traditional familiar, Guillermo does his masters bidding, in the hopes that hell be granted the immortal life of a vampire. But after a decade of loyal service hes still waiting.

Yes, he bullies Guillermo and he manipulates him because, yknow, who else is he gonna do that to? explains Novak, dipping in and out of Nandors fey accent for maximum effect. No one listens to a fucking word hes saying. This power dynamic has shifted at the start of season two, however, following Guillermos discovery that hes descended from legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing, which he opts to keep secret. Some fans have also detected an unspoken longing between them, reminiscent of The Fast Shows Ted and Ralph. Ive seen a lot of homoerotic artwork, says Novak proudly. Its all over the internet.

The shows gothic vampire lair was a sight to behold in the first series, but this season an even more impressive feat has been managed. After season ones exterior mansion location was sold by its owners for use as a womens shelter, it had to be recreated from scratch on a Toronto soundstage. Theres just so much detail to stare at, says an awed Demetriou. I hope this show is never over, but when we do get shut down, they should hire some more security guards on set, because Im gonna be taking a lot of stuff.

The shows interior design, with its velvet curtains and antique fireplaces, isnt the only mark of its creators discernment. Clement was a big Toast of London fan prior to casting its creator-star Matt Berry as Laszlo, and the individual comic sensibilities of each of the three British cast members have been subtly but perceptibly woven in. As an example, Demetriou sometimes tweaks Nadjas pronunciation or adds in grammatical errors, inspired by her own Greek-Cypriot father. (Its a style that will be familiar to fans of Stath Lets Flats, the show created by her brother Jamie, in which she also appears.)

Since the cast are themselves Europeans trying to make their way in the New World, they might have additional insights into the vampire experience, but theres no real culture shock when it comes to humour, says Demetriou. The only thing that gets lost is reference points. Like, when Im talking about Bobby Davro non-stop, no one knows who Im talking about. If theres any kind of nationally themed mood on set, its a New Zealander one, says Novak: Jemaine is there all the time, giving the good suggestions. Hes very laid-back, but hes super-passionate about what he does and he sets the vibe.

The resulting show is set apart by a specific sort of silliness thats both supernatural and earthy, never demurring from a toilet humour gag when one presents itself, but also incorporating ambitious visual effects. At a time when most celebrated sitcoms are either emotional dramedies or scathing satires, its nice to have a reliable source of what Demetriou calls just a proper, proper comedy. As befits a show about centuries-old vampires, What We Do in the Shadows is gloriously out of step with the times.

What We Do in the Shadows begins Thursday 11 June, 10pm, BBC Two

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Interview with the vampires: the return of What We Do in the Shadows - The Guardian