What We Do In the Shadows Cast Talk About Vampire Day Jobs
What We Do in the Shadows' energy vampire Mark Proksch and familiar Harvey Guillén desanguinate the proceedings.
| | The real vamp mock-doc series What We Do in the Shadows premiered on FX on March 27 on FX and cut the head off the many myths of the undead. The series adapts Taika Waititi’s 2014 vampire comedy feature What We Do in the Shadows and has become a one of the top-rated new cable comedy series in over two years, with the highest three-day lift of any series premiere in FX’s history,” according to a press statement.
The series follows a quartet of roommates: two bloodsuckers and an energy vampire, who keep a house on Staten Island. The insular quartet doesn’t drink the carbonated concoction of True Blood. Den of Geek braved the fangless members of the cast of What We Do in the Shadows to get a feel for their character quirks. Mark Proksch who plays Colin Robinson explains an energy vampire is “the type of person you meet in any office that really drain your energy.” He believes this is someone everyone can relate to. Everyone’s toiled a job which be a “great place to work if it weren’t for this one person coming by your cubicle every day and zapping your life force.”
Colin is “a very droll and boring character,” Proksch tells us. And he’s just the actor to pull quick gags out of the slow delivery. He drew from his post-college days of real life energy sucking temp work to fuel his character.
further reading: Interview with the Vampire and the Origin of the Remorseful Bloodsucker
Harvey Guillén sees his character as a bit of an everyman. Sure, Guillermo is a slave who has serving his master for years waiting to be granted immortal life as a vampire. But aren’t we all? “Everyone has that job, you’re working at a corporate office,” Guillen say. “Slow and steady wins the race and you get overlooked for that promotion and sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.”
further reading: What We Do in the Shadows Cast Talks About the Vampire Life
Both actors agree the accommodations are slightly less convenient because, while you can get all the blood you want in New York, but these vampires are stuck on Staten Island. Still it’s better than Wisconsin, where Proksch was born.
You can watch the interview here:
What We Do in the Shadows airs Wednesdays on FX.
Interview conducted by Chris Longo. Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City’s Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.