"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Harvey Guillén was born to play the role of Guillermo, the human protector of three undercover vampires, in the FX comedy series, What We Do in the Shadows. The second season of the show, which was created by New Zealanders Taika Waikiki and Jermaine Clement, began life first as a short film, then as a feature, before morphing into the popular TV show. Guillén, who is the son of Mexican migrants, grew up with no role models of people who looked like him on TV, but he nevertheless always wanted to be an actor, something of which his mother never approved. Hard work and perseverance landed him his first role on TV in Miss Guided in 2008, and four years later getting a bigger role in Huge. He has also starred in The Internship with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and had roles in Eye Candy, The Thundermans and What We Do in the Shadows changed your life and your career?

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I would say the show has really elevated the exposure of these performances of all of us on the show.  It’s nice for the work that we have done. It’s so nice that people have found it and it’s always nice to discover people who have just discovered it. When it was released on Hulu, this month more people started watching and are now obsessed with it. That’s been really nice, and we’ve gotten some lovely feedback on Guillermo’s character.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Yes!! I think working with Kayvan, who is so funny, that’s the challenge. I consider myself lucky because it’s a blessing to go to work every day and laugh and enjoy yourself. 

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I didn’t know what would happen after we were left with a cliffhanger at the end of Season One. I knew that it was a possibility, that he might become a vampire killer, but not that he would be off to the races with that storyline at the start of a new season. After the first table read, I was like “whoa I am doing what”? Guillermo does a lot of stunts and killing and I was talking to someone from the cast and I was like “this is so cool”, and they said, “we are going to give you a trainer and get that upper body strength and you are going to be doing some pretty acrobatic stuff”. I was so excited to get to work with a stunt team. I’m excited for viewers to see the cool things that we get to do this season. I really liked where we went with Guillermo and all the stuff that he gets to do. I did all my stunts myself except for one major one, which was too dangerous.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>The best way to kill a vampire is to not hesitate because vampires are quick and so there’s not a second to lose. The quicker you are, the safer you’ll be. 

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I think people who associate themselves with this world love the idea of being a vampire themselves. Vampires are different, they are outsiders. Groups like migrants, who have been treated like outsiders feel free when they adopt a vampire persona. Vampires are pretty carefree: all they do is drink blood, look for sex and have fun! That’s the world they live in, plus they live forever. When people want to escape the mundane, everyday world, the vampire world, the sky is the limit literally! You can fly and travel and have fun and be different and be flamboyant and be eccentric and it’s okay because it’s a part of who you are. 

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I think they go hand-in-hand, mixing both genres. If we are going to go to the extreme, we might as well find the humor in it. I keep thinking about our show and Stefani Robinson, one of the show’s writers, says we are doing a cartoon. And we are, because in a way, some of the scenarios, even though these are humans playing vampires, some of the scenarios are so ridiculous and abstract that you can’t help but to laugh. You have a vampire who eats pizza for the first time and then vomits profusely through the sky like a balloon, that is funny because it’s so ridiculous, you are like “oh my gosh, that really happened!” And we make those realities come true with the great storylines. That’s what is so funny.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Yeah, I think so. Guillermo serves as the audience’s eyes and sounding board. He forgets that he is in the show when the documentary crew is following him. If he does look at the camera, he is looking at you, the audience, because he is the only one in the room that constantly remembers that there is a camera crew. Sometimes the vampires might do or say something that is very incriminating, and they have to cover it up in front of the camera and it’s almost saying the wrong thing! And he is there protecting us because he is the human who is thinking in the present about future consequences. He is the guide to this world, essentially.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>For me making Guillermo come to life was keeping him grounded. It comes from him being a real person in this insane, ridiculous, crazy and wonderful scenario. Keeping him grounded is crucial at all times because, at the end of the day, he is there to work. While he takes his job seriously, he is being documented by the crew but that doesn’t take away him from his actual job.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Taika is one of the creators and he directed and was in one of the episodes, in the trial scene, as was Jermaine. In Season Two, Jermaine was a showrunner, so he was there constantly. They share notes and whatnot, but Jermaine is the one who is there most of the time.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I think so. I think that they are such a dynamic duo and it is their baby and creation. As you know, it was a short film first and then a feature and now a show. It’s gone through every iteration. Because of an original great idea, they had and executed well, we are here talking about it today.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>He wasn’t specifically written as Latin or anything in particular, but with a name like Guillermo, I made the assumption that obviously he could be Latino. But also, I didn’t audition in the traditional way, I heard about this audition when I went to a party and someone suggested I go try out for it. When I went to audition, I found out that the character was 20 years younger, so I was more concerned about the age gap and wanting to be right for the role. But afterward, they said, “we will make the character younger for you”. And so, they did, and I booked it and lucky for me.

"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I did. I always imagined myself doing things that I thought were amazing, incredible, unattainable almost because I like to dream and as a kid, I literally dreamed of being on a set. I remember the first time I actually booked something and got to a set. I loved the fact of being there, the lights and the stage and people moving furniture, moving sound equipment, costumes being rolled around. I love the feeling of being on set. And what really always aspired me was to just walk around and be a part of the action. I always imagined being an actor and nothing else. In high school, I had a guidance counselor who said, “what are your plans? I know you like acting, but what else are your plans?” I said, “I want to be an actor”. And she said: “what is your plan B?” I said, “I don’t have a plan B”. She said, “well it’s really tough out there, I just don’t want you to put all your effort into one thing unless you have a backup plan”. I said, “well I have nothing, and I came from an immigrant family, so I have nothing to lose.”