FX’s vampire comedy ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ is based on the 2014 movie of the same name, co-directed and co-starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. While the film was set in the pair’s native New Zealand, the FX series shifted its setting to New York City, thus opening up the world established by the film. Look for more such world-exploration in Season 2. Just don’t look for any leprechauns.
Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, and Natasia Demetriou star as Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja, a trio of ancient vampires who now dwell in modern NYC. Mark Proksch costars as Colin Robinson, an energy vampire, while Harvey Guillén portrays Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar. In fact, it’s Colin that may give a clue as to what to expect– variations on classic supernatural entities– as Colin doesn’t drink blood, he feeds of people’s energy by boring them with mundane stories.
While attending San Diego Comic-Con, executive producer Paul Simms spoke to Entertainment Weekly and revealed:
“The world does expand. I think in the same way that the first season of the show showed that there were other subcultures that walk amongst us that we don’t know about, I think season 2 will expand that a little further, but it’ll just be more of these guys, which is my favorite part of the show.
“Our characters will come into contact I think with other kinds of vampires, but also other kinds of supernatural entities. A lot of it is figuring out which kinds of creatures exist in this universe, which Jemaine is the ultimate arbiter of. Leprechauns do not exist in this universe. Witches do.”
The season finale episode featured a parade of famous faces of actors who have played vampires in other films and TV shows, like Wesley Snipes, Tilda Swinton, and more. There may be another similar gathering in an upcoming episode. The ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ movie included werewolves. When prompted with a list of “Taylor Lautner, Tyler Posey, Michael J. Fox…” Clement replied, “That’s a good list. Can we get it?”
