All Vampires are Queer with Harvey Guillén from What We Do in the Shadows
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It really is!

This is a wonderful day. And we haven't even been having guests because honestly, I just don't care anymore. Fuck everybody except we have an exception in the building. We're not in the building, but his building, but via satellite. From my top three favorite show of all time, I would say. Top three favorite shows of all time. A very incredible superstar actor that me and Trixie are...

unreasonably enormous fans of um from what we do in the shadows he plays guillermo it's harvey guillen i am so i'm gonna shit and piss i'm so glad you're not in the same room as me i'm gonna shit and piss in these little panties right now thank you so much for being here

Thank you for having me. I wish I was there. I would enjoy all of that. I just want to warn you, Harvey, like we're going to come on strong because nobody thinks that you are a superior star of television more than we do. Yeah. We are obsessed with what we do in the shadows and you are our favorite part of that show. You make the show. Well, thank you.

That's really sweet. And I'm a fan of both of you. It's so funny because I keep getting friends who send me the clips of you guys talking about the show. And I was like, bitch, I already saw it. I like I watched their show. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's hard to like say that you are the favorite when it's an ensemble show where there's truly not a weak link period ever. No, not one. There's never a joke that doesn't land. There's never a costume that's not amazing. But you just I can't believe in a show about vampires. You are like the you're like the Jim Halpert of it. It's so good. Yeah. I'm the only human. I'm the only human in the show. I mean, I was I'm a huge vampire fan like of it.

since I was like 10 or even earlier. And I was, I would assume that the, the non vampire main character would be the least interesting. And you buy, you fucking steal the show every goddamn episode. And it's, um, it's just so good. It's so, so good.

It's so good. You know, it's so funny because Guillermo was in that, he didn't talk a lot in the first season. If you look back at the first season, I think I talked to you about this, Tristan, like it was just like, it was not scripted that he talked a lot. He was there as a familiar and he was more like just almost like wallpaper, really. Like he was there as the sidekick to Nandor and would talk once in a while because he was afraid to speak out.

And then it was just through facial expressions that we told a story. All of season one, it was just my face that was just telling the story. The audience was like, I see what's happening. There's something there going on. So it's so funny that you say that. But I don't think that was the intention for Guillermo originally, but here we are. When did you start taping the show? What year? It was 2018. We shot the pilot.

We shot the pilot in LA and then we got picked up and we moved to Toronto where I'm currently now shooting. We're halfway through season four. Uh, yesterday was fucking God. They announced that you guys were, I think picked up for two seasons, like right away last year. So like, as I was starting watching three, I think it was announced that you were already doing like more than one more season. And it,

I just felt such comfort because on a show this weird, you know, I always have like freaks and geeks syndrome. We're like, what if something really fierce only has one season? Do you know what I mean? Like I'm always afraid of that because sometimes it's the amazing shows that fly under the radar. Yeah.

And I just have to say, like, normally when we have guests on the pod, I have to like Wikipedia them and try to get myself psyched up to figure out what I'm in. I didn't have to do any fucking research today. I do not have to pretend to be enthusiastic about your work. Obviously, having like a queer person of color be like a star is great. But bitch, like, what did you guys know? Like when you're shooting that pilot, could you feel it like, oh, this is some shit.

Yeah, I think I remember shooting the pilot. And first of all, I never had a chemistry with Kayvon, which is unheard of. You usually have a chemistry with like your counterpart. They had cast everyone on the show already. I was the last person to get cast. They had already booked. Matt was the first one. And then it was, I think, Kayvon and Natasha and Mark. And then I was the last one. And they were starting production in a week and they haven't found Guillermo. Guillermo was written 20 years older than I.

So I wasn't even right for the role. And so when I went into the audition, it was a courtesy audition because I went to a wine and cheese night and I met this girl at a wine and cheese night who said, you're so fucking funny. You should audition for my fiance's new show. And I was like, okay, I'm not probably for that. But sure, why not? And then I looked into it and it was what we do in the shadows and they gave me a courtesy audition.

And I went in there and I parted my hair in the middle and I got these Harry Potter glasses, popped them out. I wore this gross like sweater vest. I was like, if this doesn't make me stand out, I know I'm not right for the role age wise, but this will make me like pop. And she'll remember me, Alison Jones, who I wanted to impress, the cast director.

Cut to an hour later after the audition, they're like, "Yeah, it's unanimous. You're gonna test with Kayvon." And I was like, "That's insane." And I was like, so looking forward to it. I never got the call to test. It was Martin Luther King weekend. And I got a call from a 16 digit number. And I was like, my sister, she'll pick up the fucking phone. And I was like, "Oh my God." And I picked up and was like, "Hey, is this Javi?" And I was like, "Yeah. Hey, it's Jemaine and Taika." "Oh, hi. Yes, I'm testing for you." He's like, "No, you're not testing. We'll see you on set."

That's like some magic story shit that never happens. - Yeah. - Fucking A. - Oh, that's so Hollywood if I ever heard a story. If you told me that story, I wouldn't believe it. And it was happening to me at that time. And I was like, this is insane. I looked at my sister-- - You're like, am I being scammed? Are they gonna ask me to send $5,000? - Yeah, seriously. - And the name of 20, and like 20 friends' names. - Yeah.

Which I probably would have done. Honestly, like whole confession, I would have done it. But then I just remember I never had the chemistry with Kayvon. It was Sunday. I got the call. Martin Luther King was Monday. Tuesday, I had a fitting and Wednesday I was on set. We were starting to shoot the pilot and I never had a chemistry with Kayvon. I was like,

I met him and I was like, please make this work. Please make. And I just met him and he just talked and I was like, Oh my God. It was like, he's such a wonderful comedian actor, such a giving actor that I was like, this could have gone easily, you know, the other way. So after we shot the pilot, I felt something good. I felt like if this doesn't get picked up, what a shame, but,

If it doesn't get picked up, I'm really proud of the work. And I want that reel because this is a really funny show. It's like, so I just felt this like crackle, you know, to the show that I was like, man, this is good. This gets legs. Like we, we have a good show here and lucky for us, we got picked up. I mean, how many scripts do you read that you're like, that you feel genuinely excited about?

I mean, there's a lot of scripts that I, I think the question is how many scripts do I read that I'm not excited about? Well, yeah, I mean, I would assume that's the majority, right? That's the majority. Like you read stuff, especially like, you know, being an actor who's normally just playing character roles, you see it the same, the same note, you know, it's like the guy next door, the nerd, the hacker, you just get the same roles over and over. And so this for Guillermo was so different that I was like, this is unique. This is different. And they didn't, Guillermo didn't have a last name.

And I remember being on set the first couple of weeks and I asked Jermaine, one of the creators, I was like, can I give him a last name? And he says, oh yeah, what you thinking? And I was like, I don't know, something like,

De la Cruz. And he goes, what does that mean? And I was like, oh, it means of the cross. Is that okay? Or is that like, you know, and he's like, no, that's perfect. Cause he knew the storyline before I did. I didn't know about the vampire slayer. Okay. Well, even like, like even before that storyline, like somebody who desperately wants to be a vampire with their last name is of the cross is funny. It is really funny. And oh my God. Your show has one of the most.

like iconic opening sequences that I'm telling you, I watch it every time. I never skip it. I never skip it. We talked about that yesterday. I can't believe I don't skip the intro ever. It's so good. Did you see the little differences in this last season where, spoiler alert if you haven't seen it, but when Colin, something happens to Colin, like in the opening, his pictures disappear and they're missing. Oh.

I noticed that. I never clocked that. By the way, we watch it every time and never clock that. So I'm not saying it's not effective. I'm saying we're stupid. Also, there was the episode where Kayvon, they sing the opening in Farsi. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I remember that one. That's right. Because it was his, what? It was his...

It was when he was going through a crisis and he joins the cult. Bitch. Fucking. Katya and I were ready for that storyline to go on for like several more episodes. It's like a highest rated episode. It's so fucking weird. Yeah. It's so weird. You're like, where is this going? And then they, spoiler alert, they all die. She just, I love it. She just, she just leads them out into the lake.

Nandor's new wig is so fucking funny in that episode. It's so feathered. It's so 1980s. And Cree Summer, who guest stars in that episode, who if you know, she's the voice of everything you've ever loved as your childhood. Like she was Penny in Inspector Gadget. No way. Yeah, Cree is also in Rugrats. Remember, she's the best friend to Angelica. Oh my God. Susie? Susie. Susie. Oh, yeah.

That's her voice. Yeah. And so she's in everything and she's amazing. And also it leaves a window for her to come back because remember all her followers died except for her. She's like, back to the drawing board. I mean,

I mean, and I'm like, and you know what I like about it too? It's like you guys season one were weird, right? But then it's like, as you got your audience support and maybe whoever pays the bills believes in you more, you guys have gotten more and more foolish. Yeah. And more and more absurd and more flashy with the effects and the money and

And it's just so good. It's like someone's just pouring gas in the tank. So you guys get to be bigger and bigger freaks. It's so crazy. It's like we look at it, you know, just where like I always look back at that episode with the Baron where he eats pizza pie. We're like a cartoon. Like he eats pizza pie and he vomits profusely, like deflates like a balloon in the air. Yeah.

Crazy. That's crazy. And your action sequences are fucking fierce. The last, where you and Nander go at it, it was like, they're so good. It's like, again, no idea that that was happening. Like I had, if you were told me in the first week of filming that Guillermo at one point would be Van Helsing and be kicking ass and like trying to like,

attack Nandor because it's emotion he's driven by emotion he's frustrated what is that kind of love that he has with him we don't know is it romantic it's yet to be shown but there's definitely you know sometimes you love someone so much and it could be a friendship but you're just trying to shake the nonsense out of them so like doing those sequences are like amazing like my favorite is that like we ad-lib like plancha that was all me that was so funny plancha and then jump off

And let me tell you, everyone went crazy on the internet. They're like, oh my God, my childhood. Because, you know, we grew up watching other, you know, WWE, like wrestling or do you watch, you know, Lucha Libre? Yeah, sure. If you're Latinx, you know, you start, you watch that when you're little. And those are the moves that you recreated as a child. So bringing that back to Guillermo's fight scene was like the chef's kiss for me.

I know. I feel like you accidentally are living like every gay boy's dream. Who would have known that you literally would go be like Sarah Michelle Gellar? Yeah. Like you're just Buffy now. Totally. And I love that you're like, but living with vampires and like protecting them from their own, like just vulnerable stupidity. I mean, they're so clueless and they don't know what's going on. And then you're like, you are so competent and so on top of it and so overworked. I'd like your, your character is just so great. Yeah.

I don't think you caught that because it's like they live in their own world. The vampires live in their own world. And we think about his lust and feeding. And that's pretty much it because after you've been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years and you've seen it all, you've done it all, you start zoning out. You're like, whatever. They're like ancient babies. They're like ancient babies. Yeah.

It reminds me of like absurdly rich people, how they sort of become incompetent. Yeah. Like money, money, money makes you sort of just a shell of like, what else? Who cares? They can't, they can't pump their own gas. Like they can't go to a gas station and pump their own gas. Try to turn the TV on with a paperweight and you're like, you know, like,

just like oh my god also the the the RuPaul cameo was so fucking funny this week oh my god can I tell you a story about that so that was uh the scene that was the last episode of the finale uh and that scene when Taika says yes queen and is like you didn't take over RuPaul's Drag Race and then it shows like RuPaul at the end of his message yeah and then at the end

Motherfucker!

I would have jizzed. I would have jizzed myself. You know why it didn't make it? Because it would have been a lie. He was not going to fall in love with us. He was going to hate us. Yeah.

Who is the actor that plays Nandor? What is his name? Kayvon. Kayvon. Novak. I just watched a couple of interviews with him, and it is so bizarre to hear him talk in a not crazy accent. Nandor? Not Nandor, yeah. He's so hot. I find him so fucking attractive. Oh, my God.

He is like honey to bees. Like every woman that passes by, like, it's just like, hey, like he is just, and the worst part is that he's so charming and nice that it's like, you almost wish someone who was like funny and like good looking be an asshole. Yeah. But he's not, he's literally the most nice, the nicest person ever. And you're just like, yep. Like you, you're a good guy. Like you're a nice guy and amazing, funny. Like he's like, I couldn't ask for a better, like scene partner. He's like the best.

- My God. - You also really lucked out with your character 'cause I mean, they do have you in drag, like your look changes a little bit, but your cast members besides Colin, they are in drag every day. - No shit, yeah. - Every day. - Yeah, that's... - Every day. You know how long the first season it would take everyone to get ready? 'Cause I feel bad for Natasha 'cause in the first season she would wear corsets and petticoats and boots, like Victoria boots, even though you would never see her shoes.

because the petticoats and the dresses are so long unless she was flying, you wouldn't, she could wear Uggs, you would not know the difference. But the costume designer was like putting her in like high ankle, like, yeah, Victorian shoes. And she had to be in those for 16 hour days. And I like, my hat goes off to her, but she had the toughest and she had to make up and she had to do. And the first season, it was her own hair they're using. So, yeah. Oh,

so they were doing a lot of stuff with her own hair and eventually they caught on like you know what it's probably faster if we do way faster yeah and um for that length of hair too styling that length of hair that's crazy yeah yeah touch up and it was so time consuming so I think they figured out and that

I always say Nadja has the hardest getting ready. Guillermo season one, I literally put my sweater vest five minutes before we're on stage. That's what I mean. You got so lucky. Dream come true. And now with the new, with the, with last season of the Van Helsing with

the vest and his fitted and our costume designer who's amazing like we work really close together and trying to figure out what you know these things are for the character so we wanted to have him more fitted a little more comfortable in his own skin he showed a little more figure because usually he's frumpy oversized sweaters he doesn't show off anything like no arms no never see his waist and now it's like the cut is like you know vest is cut to the waist the pants are like tucked into the boot so you're seeing a little more of his figure because you know gear was got curved so you gotta show it off

The Bald and the Beautiful is supported by FX's English Teacher. From Paul Sims, the executive producer that brought you What We Do in the Shadows, FX's English Teacher follows Evan, a teacher in Austin, Texas, who learns if it's really possible to be your full self at your job while often finding himself at the intersection of the personal, professional, and political aspects of working at a high school.

I cannot wait to see this amazing new show with the preternaturally hysterical Brian Jordan Alvarez. It's from the producer of one of the greatest TV shows of all time. And can I let you in on a little secret? A certain Miss Trixie Mattel makes a guest appearance on the show and whoa, it is a sight to behold. Take it from me, a connoisseur of quality television programming. You do not want to miss this show. FX's English Teacher premieres September 2nd on FX. Stream on Hulu.

There's also, I mean, what a gift to like, there's nothing funnier than somebody who desperately wants to be a vampire, right? That's already funny. And then he's just never getting the release of like actually that, but then adding, um, accidentally being really good at killing vampires is so funny. Yeah. It's so funny. And also when you killed the Baron, like that was the funniest fucking thing I'd ever seen. He went out to get roses and he came back and he was, uh, I'm back with the, so funny. Yeah.

And I'm so happy that Baron is back now, like a crispy critter. Oh my God. Doug Jones. And also another, you know, if you remember all of your childhood, like favorites, he was a Billy and Hocus Pocus. Remember Billy with this like sewn up mouth? No way. That was him. He's a Billy.

And he like cuts his mouth open and moths come out. That's Doug Jones. Doug Jones is the Baron. And do you remember like, this is like way, maybe I saw reruns of this online, but remember Mac, the knife, like McDonald's, like Crescent moon that play the piano and the, the McDonald's commercials. I mean, this is like nineties. I like it. Maybe it was 80. I don't know. But like, I've seen it online. That's him. He was like the first like giant big Mac, like Crescent moon guy. Yeah.

Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. Yes. Wow. What a career. That was him. Yeah. And he's the creature in Shape of Water. Remember the one in Shape of Water? Oh, I did know that too. Damn. What a fucking career. Shit. And I mean, I know we're on, was it end of season three now? Yeah. Yeah. I know that we're just going back to, but when you think of the quality of the prosthetics in the pilot, how is that a pilot of a comedy show? Yeah. I mean,

And then like the, the, when the Baron comes out of that coffin, I was like, this is fucking crazy. This is like blade or some shit. Yeah. When he just lays at hands, it's like the opening and just like the, you know, exaggeration. He was in makeup, uh,

he's such a trooper. He's used to it now because he does so many like characters that are creatures and prosthetic, but he was in makeup for like three and a half hours, I think. Oh, that's not bad. That doesn't seem bad. That's not bad. I mean, we do makeup sometimes for two and a half, like with costumes and everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's, you're right. Everyone,

was in drag yeah but you know what though i feel worse for people like him because i think laying there would be worse than doing it yourself actually you have something to do so time moves forward yeah but i think laying there would be so fucking hard or like just sitting there while people not if it's like four in the morning though oh really like silky the other day we had an early call time for drag race she had to get up at 3 30 to do have her makeup done she was dead asleep for two hours

Yeah. Well, the makeup artist just did it. She had a makeup artist? Yeah. Well, there you go.

Yeah. I mean, you know, are we the only people who don't have makeup artists at this point? I don't want one. I don't want one. Nobody can either. I don't either. Yeah. Anyways. So you're right. It is time consuming. Like, you know, either you're doing something even I'm not in the makeup chair for that long, but I always like bring my sides or bring like my phone or something because you want to be doing something because otherwise the first, you know, it's not your first rodeo. Like the first time you do like a show and stuff. I remember my first show ever and I was on a,

a show called Miss Guided and it was Ashley Kutcher produced it and Judy Greer starred in it. Oh, we love her. We love Judy. We love her. And it was my first thing ever so I got to go to the makeup chair in the head and I was so excited. I was like watching everything and I was like talkative and I was just like so engaged with everything and then after like a while you're like, oh yeah, they don't want to hear you talk at this 5A

Shut the fuck up, bitch. It's 5 a.m. Damn. And you're so cheery. You're like, oh my God, someone having a great time. And everyone's like, okay, close your eyes and close them out. Oh, that's too bad. That's funny. I think you set the tone, right? It sounded like an Uber where if you start talking, they'll talk to you. But if you say nothing, they won't. I've been in many situations where the Uber has shushed me.

Oh, in the eyes like the opposite. Yeah. No, they'll take a fake phone call. Oh, yeah. They're too busy for you. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, okay. Right. Yeah. Cause like I'm, I'm friendly. Especially if they speak like Russian, if they speak Russian, then I'll try to talk to them in Russian and then they'll, we'll just stop talking. They would just, they would just stop talking maybe because I'm gay. Yeah.

Maybe because I'm gay. I don't think that's probably why. I think, what are you talking to them about? Can I ask? Mung diving. Mung diving. Wait, Guillermo. Not Guillermo. Sorry. Harvey. Sorry. I have a question for you. So, like, I feel like for in the show, so three seasons now, they're like the...

the sustained tension that is like so important in carrying this kind of like narrative weight is that Guillermo has not been turned into a vampire. Do you think he ever will be?

I think that sometimes we think what our dream and ambition is and what's best for us is what we're after. But sometimes the universe is like, look over here, bitch. Like, look over here. And I think that his goal is to be... Well, I should say what I want for Guillermo is for him to be happy. Yeah. I think he's finding that... I think he's going through a little bit of...

in like the end of season three when he like confronts Nandor. And like, we also don't know what that relationship is where like, is he sticking around because he wants to be a vampire or is he sticking around because they need him and he wants to be needed and doesn't stick around. Sometimes it's good to be wanted, you know? And I feel like I wanted to get what he wants and it might take a second, but overall I wanted to be happy.

happy will it become a vampire I think that would be cool I think it would be cool too I think my interpretation is that Guillermo is in love with Nandor it's a codependent unrequited relationship a little toxic relationship but yeah but um it's so sweet and lovely but I think like the the the fuel that drives it is that like

the yearning and not getting satisfied. Yeah. You know, all that stuff. Absolutely. I think it's, we're all driven by something that we want, right? We're all, that's why I think people relate to Guillermo so much is we're all Guillermos. We've all been in a situation where we've, we've been in a toxic relationship. We've been at a job that overlooks us for a promotion. We've been, you know, defeated about something that we thought we were going to do and it didn't work out. We've all been Guillermo. So the reason that we follow the human,

familiar story for lack of a better word is because, bitch, we're all here, you know, we're rooting for him because we root for each other. And that's what makes us human. We really do want each other to succeed and win. And sometimes you do get a little bit jealous because how come it's better for them? How come they're thriving? What am I doing wrong? And so I feel like Guillermo is in that world where he's doing everything by the book. But you know what, sometimes you gotta stop doing things by the book and do your own fucking way. That's true. I've never read a book in my life.

That's something I think the show does really well is it's sort of like musical theater where you guys are playing it like realistically under very unrealistic circumstances. Yeah. And so it's those moments like the chosen, like when Garibald's trying to have this chosen family moment and nobody's listening to him. Like, yeah.

Yeah. There's a little bit of heart, but then you're like, all right, this is a comedy show where nobody cares what he has to say. Yeah, it's absolutely right. And it's, I couldn't, I couldn't imagine it being any other way. And that's the first time that we see the vampires genuinely having any kind of past emotion they had as a human. Because remember, those days are long gone.

We're making this the reality and we're grounded in this world. Vampires haven't felt human emotions in a while. So for them to force themselves to go back to that place and be like, wow, do you like doing stuff, Guillermo? Wow, he likes and he knows it. It's so hard for Natasha to say those lines because she's trying so hard to be human. She's like, wow, you like stuff and he knows it. It's like, we're all a big fan. Spill the tea, stupid bitch. It's just like those

Those don't come natural. And that is really endearing to watch these vampires who are usually assholes. To have one moment of like, wow, you really are a boom clan. It's like, we got the chicken piccata had glass in it. So we got the dinner con. And I have to say, like, it's one of those shows where moment to moment, I can't decide who my favorite character is. And then once in a while, Colin Robinson will come in and I'm like,

This bitch turns the party. Every single line is like a laugh out loud delivery. It's so fucking funny. I know. He's such a good foil for the energy of the other characters. I would normally hate him or just be like, ugh, him again. But I agree with Trixie. He is just such a great anti-

Just an antidote to the insanity of the over-the-top energy of the other characters. Yeah, and it's good at doses, you know? Because if you were next to Colin for 24 hours nonstop, you would hate him, obviously. But since you get sprinkled and it's in doses and it's really well-written and Mark does a great job with it. Like sometimes when Mark's offset, just because, you know, that's a speaking voice. So when he'll just talk to you or something, he'll like fuck with us and I can't tell if he's

literally just taking us for a ride. He'll talk about something and he will become Colin Robinson. He'll be talking about something. He's like, you know, my wife and I, we went shopping for a wine glass. And I was like, I don't know if you're joking right now because you're literally draining the fuck out of me right now. He is sort of the master of that. He's no one top smart when it comes to that. That is his jam. His bread and butter. I forget whose character's name was on The Office, but he served it up every time in The Office too.

No one does what Mark does better. Like that's his bread and butter. Like that's his leg game. Yeah. And bald, white, frumpy representation. Hello. Finally. He is the bald and the beautiful. There's hope for us. Boring baldies. Maybe I could get a job in three years. Yeah. Mediocre white men. We need representation. We need it now. I can learn a couple of lines. Yeah.

By the way, the revolving door of superstar guest stars you guys get. I mean, like Marissa Jarrett-Winniker, like Evan Rachel Wood. Kristen Schaal. Oh my God. I mean, I'm such a 30 Rock fan that I was fangirling. And I'm such a Broadway fan that I didn't have any scenes with Marissa. I went to set that day, even though I was off.

from work. Oh, really? And I went to set because, I mean, I think I made a tradition like I, if there's a guest star on any of the shows that I do, it's nice to go say hello. You know what I mean? Like it's like, hello, welcome to the show. Like it's like, nothing feels worse than guest star in a show and no one saying anything. You know what I mean? Like you get to guest star in a show and you see the leads walk by and they're too busy with their Frappuccino or something. They don't say anything. You're like, hi, nice to, okay. And they flick their cigarette at your face. Yeah, their cigarette, ow! It's just like, you know. In the eye. Yeah, in the eye.

There's an ashtray right there. But like the fact that I made it a long time ago, that's not how I, you know, like to work. So I make it a point to like say hello, make them feel welcome, like make them feel included. We have guest stars this year that we can't announce yet. Oh, can you give me a hint? Is it Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother? Yeah.

It is, isn't it? It's Solange. It's Solange. It's Solange. Okay, fine. I'll say it's Solange. Woo! My dream list of guest stars would be like, I would love to see Amy Sedaris as a vampire council member. That would be so beyond. Can I tell you, I'm making this up.

that is literally the first person on my list. I've literally told casting, I was like, is there any way that we could get in there? Like, Oh no, because we saw our casting director out of New York cast Amy's last show at home. Wait, obsessed. Okay, bitch. I'm obsessed. Stranger with Candy was my thing. Like I watch it on repeat. Like I'm obsessed with Amy Sedaris and I, people don't give her like the credit she deserves because she's a comic genius. And I literally was filming a movie and the casting director was

got an offer from Amy's show for me to come do the show and they told okay wait though and they told them oh he's filming a movie because I also cast him in this movie so they said no to the project without ever telling me come to the cast was like oh I wanted to tell you that they wanted you for that show but I knew you were filming and I was like oh we moved production like a week I was off that week and I was

- Oh, that is so disappointing. - I was devastated because I was like, that was my chance to meet Amy Sedak. Everyone knows me knows I'm obsessed. - That show is on the level of your show. Like it's that funny. - I mean, it's, oh my God. Anything, like a nosy neighbor, like anything. - Anything, anything. - A mailman, a mailman. - Anything. - Totally. - Anything, make it, I literally have been saying this, like anything, anything. Like she just drops off a box. I don't care. Like it's like anything, just anything.

And I think at one point they looked in, her schedule was her show. Obviously she was working on it. So it's just the timing. Sometimes you want people really badly. And people want to come on our show as well. They put in their two cents and they've sent like, hey, let me know. But there's no... The writers have already written the season. And there's no thing that... It wouldn't be fair to the storyline if we just included everybody wants to come play because...

If you included everybody who loves your show, it would just be a talk show. It'd be three. It'd be three hours long. An episode. Three hours. Yeah. We're only, we're only a 21 minute show. God, is that, I know. And it's so short. It's so short. I wish it was literally night.

it should be the drag race queen size episodes. 90 minutes every time. At least 40. Give me 40 fucking minutes. Like, you know, it's so funny that like in the UK and BBC, they show the episode and they don't show commercials because it's, uh, they just don't show commercials on TV there. So our show is, uh, so quick. They put two episodes usually back to back. There you go. There you go. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Only because we don't have commercials there, but since we live in America, uh,

they do need the commercial. So then like one is enough, but we always start with two episodes. So the season premiere usually starts with two episodes. Thank God. Yeah. Thank God. What is, what are some of your favorite shows just in general that you love to watch?

Right now, I'm going down a rabbit hole of reality TV. So I'm a housewife fanatic. So I'm just obsessed. What is happening with... What franchise are you watching? Oh, the Beverly Hills with Erika Jayne. Like, what is that whole thing about? Who is Hunky Dory? Is that from Beverly Hills? Yeah, that's Kathy Hilson. Who's a national treasure? Now she's a staple. Yeah, Kathy Hilson. I love that one. I love the New York. The Salt Lake one has another

you know, Salt Lake is doing what none of the girls are doing. And it's kind of under the radar. It's great. It's amazing. Like then Jen, Jen shot. Oh my God. I, I just, I'm just watching every minute. And like, that's how I like completely decompress. Like I just like go home after doing comedy and like, it's so great. And then watching these housewives and their stories, a housewife, another guest star that could potential. Yes. But also, I mean, your show is like a faux show.

It's not a reality show, but it's a faux doc, but it is faux reality. So I would think having a healthy dose of reality is probably good for you. You should have Kathy Hilton on there. Yeah, she comes and knocks on the door and says, who's hunky dory? Instant kill. Was there a moment where there was a moment where like Scott Bakula was like, because they thought he was related to Dracula? Was that what he was? Can they call him?

when he's in Sherman Oaks at his home. So fucking stupid. So stupid. So stupid. Girl, the Zoom meeting, the FaceTime. Blade. Wesley Snipes on a laptop. Fucking legendary snipe.

So fucking good. Also, whoever thought of like, okay, in this universe, if you've ever played a vampire in a movie, you are a vampire in real life. Yeah. That is so funny. It's so good. We follow the rules. We follow the rules of anything from interview with a vampire. Even the kickball scene, which was...

It's so funny because I was with Catherine Hardwick last night. We went to see a movie here in Toronto. She's filming here. And she directed Twilight, the first one. And so she was like, she was watching the show and then literally texted me like, what did you guys do? I was like, yep, you directed it. And then we took it and now we did it in our show. So good. The kickball scene. It was just like, it's just like we don't, we're not above that. Like we're not above like throwing a wink to like, you know what we're talking about. You saw the fucking,

movie you know it's like yeah yeah that's awesome those movies are really kati just did a recap of it and those movies are really on another level they are totally out of this world unhinged crazy just wild wild crazy wild ever since koba started i've been like you harvey i've been having like a i don't have a strong reality tv foundation

Like I haven't seen the classic. So during COVID we watched like, you know, The Simple Life and I watched Top Model for the first time and all that. And now I'm watching Wife Swap from the beginning. Oh. And none of the girls are doing what Wife Swap is doing. No. Taking like a military family and swapping it with like a bunch of like peace loving hippies and just letting them scream at each other. I mean, it's crazy.

My favorite is that one lady who's like, the devil, the devil. Oh, the God warrior? Her name is Marguerite. Yeah. The one who's like, tear cards, gargoyles. Gargoyles, like it's, yeah. Be gone, be gone. It's pretty crazy. Actually, that might have been trading spouses. Oh, was it? Might have been.

Because trading spouses, I believe, is the one where they get to give the other family $10,000. I really don't know. If they see it through, right? If they have to see it through, like three days, you have to live with them for three days or something like that. But that might be right. It's also the same time frame, right? It's around the 90s, like Y-Swap and trading spouses. Oh, yeah, it was trading spouses. I think she might even be gay now.

No! No, come on. Well, here's an article. 14 years after Infamous's appearance on Trading Spouses, we talked to Marguerite Perrin about her lasting internet fame and embracing the LGBT. Oh, so she likes gays now. Oh, she's down with the girls. She's a gay warrior. Okay.

She's a gay warrior. I also love, like, speaking of gay, I just love that Laszlo is, like, just so bisexual, pansexual, whatever, and just talks about sucking dick and cock all the time. Well, all the vampires are queer. Oh, really? Yeah. All the vampires are queer, yeah, because if you remember, there was an episode where Laszlo and Nandor don't get off, and they're, like, waiting by the room. They're like, so do you want to? Well, we should. And they go in and finish each other off in the room. That's right. And

Yeah. And I love what we do about the show is that being queer is not the demise of anyone. Being queer is part of their life and it's just intertwined into the story. And it's never the topic of conversation. It's never like, oh, I think they're queer. Because that's what most mainstream does. Because it's also not even interesting. It's not interesting enough. But it's because for so long it's been a taboo in mainstream television or American culture where it's just like, and the character is queer.

You know what I mean? It's almost like the gay character is always going to have the demise of like their life. Oh, and they came out and they lose their job because they came out and they're, and it's like, it all falls apart. And in this world being queer is you're thriving and you happen to be queer and you're thriving. Totally. That's it. Because that's reality. That's life. People have everyday lives and they happen to be queer.

I also like that it's handled, it's sort of like, you know, these vampires have been alive for so long. It's sort of like a later stage of evolution that they are a little queer and don't even care. Yeah. You know what I mean? Well, you know, exactly right. Like the idea that if you live for hundreds of years and you have nothing to lose, what do you have to fear?

The reason that people are so scared is because society makes them scared to come out and be queer. But if everyone had nothing to lose and you were going to live your life and you're a vampire and you can defend yourself, you have no fear. You're like, yeah, I love this. I love that. I love everything. What are you going to say about it? Because there's no fear. We live in a world where the fear holds us back. But if we lived in a world where everyone just fucking be queer, if you want to be queer and let people be queer. You know what else I'm glad made a comeback this season? Creepy paper. Oh, yeah.

I love the creepy. It was such a good throwback. I was cause that for some reason that has like stuck in my brain. It wasn't in the script originally. And I threw it in. I didn't think they were going to use it. Yeah.

I just remember I just yeah, I just remember it was like we have to bring it back and like we're thinking about we're shooting season four now we're halfway through. And there's some things that we're talking about. Oh, yeah, that's right from season one. Remember we and so there's always those moments of like, we should do a little bit of like people like that people are really paying attention. We'll notice those little like things. Yes. Can I ask how much how much you guys break and who breaks the most?

I would say most of my scenes recently or in the first three seasons were with Kayvon.

And so I would say K'von breaks the most because he's so fucking funny. But he always makes fun of me because I'm such like a, you know, Guillermo's grounded and he's not, you know, over the top. Like the vampires are so bigger than life, you know? I could never make Guillermo that level because they're like, whatever, you know, blah, blah. Like they're yelling at the top of their lungs. Natasha's character's yelling all the time at Laszlo. Laszlo's just talking with his inflection. And Guillermo has to be subtle.

and has to be grounded. He's no longer than a softer whisper, you know, because he's afraid to step out of line for the first two seasons because they'll demote him. And so I'm always really grounded. It's so hard to stay grounded in Guillermo character all the time. And then here's Kayvon making a joke and he laughs at his own joke. I'm like, stop. He's just like, okay, I won't do it. I won't do it. Yeah. And then, ahem,

And he like breaks character and just like laughs at his own joke. And I'm like, we just had a take the other night where it was the last, it was a martini shot for the night. And like, Keevan got the giggles and just couldn't stop laughing. And I was like, stop. Cause then I had start, I started doing it too. And then once I get going, it's just tears down my eyes and like, I can't stop. So it's hard just to keep grounded as Guillermo. And then on top of that, try not to laugh at how hilarious Keevan is. Like it's like this containment of a, of a bond that's about to go off and it's so hard. And eventually it just has to explode.

I wonder what that's like. I've always wondered what it's like to laugh with a co-star. Oh, shut up. You know what? I do think about that. We are lucky because our job is to make each other laugh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have to laugh. Yeah. Like we, especially since we have no audience, like we're supposed to try to make each other laugh. I think it would be really fucking hard because I think once it starts, it gets worse. Like when I've had to do stage productions with peaches and stuff, once something is funny, it's like,

what do you do you can't i mean you're feeling what the audience is feeling so they're gonna laugh at this yeah and that's what we also know when something's gonna be good yeah when the actors can't keep it together yeah my favorite memory is being in season one and our boom guy who's you know these guys have been around like they've seen it every every show they're never like they half the time they probably don't even know what the storyline is because they're like another show that's a gig you know like they're doing it he's holding the boom and our crew is so

lovely and they love our show so much they go above and beyond and they're like paying attention to everything so even the boom guy was like watching and he got the giggles and he started shaking oh see i love that that's my favorite thing and eventually it kind of fell and it got into the shot and i was like that's it that's the one yeah the boom guy who's heard it all yeah seen it all is shaking and he's slapping inside so much and he can't even hold it together and he drops the boom

that we know it's a good joke yeah you look down the boom is on the floor and then you see a boner in his pants that's how you know that's how you know you really got him you really got him gal well in drag race that's the only time i ever cared is if a camera person laughed that's the only time i ever cared yep totally like if you have nothing else to go off yeah if you do these little talking head things that were just you you know answering questions from an interviewer like

you know, the three or four other, you know, sound and audio guys in the room, like I always try to make them laugh. And if I can hear them giggle, I know I'm on the right track, but otherwise it can be pretty grim. Yeah. How long, how, what's your shoot days usually like, how long do they shoot for it? Typically our first couple of seasons, we moved really quickly. I think we did 10 episodes, our first season, 10 episodes in nine weeks.

So we usually like an episode every three to four days. Wow. Um, which is a really quick turnaround. Um, we also cross shoot. What does that mean? Cross shoot means that, uh, in one day we'll be shooting, let's say season one. So it'll be episode one Oh one, one Oh two, one Oh three and so on. So in one day we'll be shooting, we'll start the day with one Oh two. And by lunchtime we'll be at one Oh five, a piece of one Oh five, like a little segment. And by dinnertime you might be shooting a little bit of one Oh nine. Oh wow. So,

girl everywhere I know and as an actor that's crazy for me my first season was a little tough because again the trajectory of Guillermo is he's going somewhere with it right so with the vampires every episode would wrap up really nicely in the first season like you know Colin gets a promotion someone goes on a date they can't figure out the computer there's a curse on the computer so everything gets resolved at

the end of the episode. So it's easy to, you know, insert yourself in the day of that, you know, scene. For Guillermo, it was a little bit hard. And also, there were episodes that we weren't going to get ahead of time. So we would be shooting a scene from like episode 109 and it'd be like, why is he covered in blood? And it's like, we can't tell you.

And it'd be like, what? And it's just like, we can't, we're not like, they wouldn't tell us because they wanted to keep it so secretive and be on our toes like a real documentary. So it felt organic, but they wouldn't because the movie was shot at Taika and Jemaine. There was no scripts given to the actors. They got to set and they were told you have to exit the door, talk about going to like the store and dinner, go. And

Are you serious? Yeah, so the script was never given to the actors. And so we got the script, but we were limited. So some start, we would get sides for an episode and we're like, so Guillermo gets in the car, the car is covered in blood in the front. How did that happen?

Yeah, we haven't shot that episode yet. We can't tell you. Just work. You're terrified. Amazing. Sounds like Drag Race. Yeah. But more blood. Yeah, more blood. I've been watching Reno 911 from the beginning too. And so I'm watching it for the first time like as an adult being like, oh my God, these people probably had absolutely nothing. I mean, this is all just suggestions and then turn the cameras on and go.

Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. I can appreciate like keeping on your toes because for the first, you know, season, it changed after season one, then we would get the scripts and we have a table read and all that. But I think for the first season, they were trying to see the formula would work from the movie and for a movie. That's great. But also they had hundreds and hundreds of hours for the

movie that they had to edit. And Yana, who's actually, uh, our director for, uh, half the episodes this season, uh, and last season as well, she edited the movie and it took forever because it was so much footage. Cause you're, you're just improvising and then you have to make a story out of that. You're like, how does this fit? And then condense it. Uh,

but she's amazing and she already so now having her as a director coming from the world of editing she already knows it's going to get used and what's not that's so cool yeah I was somebody some actor the other day said like film is really an editor's medium not a director's medium so it's like go from editor director that makes a

lot of sense a hundred because she she knows what's going to get edited and what's going to work and so i've now transferred over as a director is so good with her her takes like i got it means like you'll do like two takes like we got it unless you want to have a fun one that's a fun one she moves so smoothly because she already knows what's going to be in the editing room floor and what's going to be using what's not so it saves you a lot of time you know uh so our first our first season our hours were real crazy uh we

we do like 15 hours, 16, sometime, uh, because we had to shoot so quickly and condense it, uh, since then. And because of COVID as well, like, uh, we've last year was like 10 hour days, which is totally great. You know, families are home with their loved ones for dinner. Yeah. Like it was great. Like those are, uh, those are great. So we're, we're back on that track. Like it's keeping it steady. And,

it's good for you. It's also like, you know, talking about crew and everyone, uh, you need to be rested, you know, like you need to go home and see your family, have a life. What? Uh, she doesn't know that word rested. So rested is when you lay down and you don't go sleep.

Oh, you mean like you do the rest of your work? No, no, no, no. Like you have time to rest. And so it's been really nice. And our crew here in Toronto is so amazing and wonderful that like, you know, it makes our job easier just because everyone's great. And FX has been wonderful in giving us

what we want and like making it crazier. Every season is bigger. Oh my gosh. Crazy. Crazy. And the set, like the set, this season, season three, it's like the house is getting bigger. We're finding these new areas. And I'm like, yeah, the sets are so there was a scene like a couple episodes ago where you walked in and Laszlo was playing the piano. And I was like, look at this fucking room. I don't think we'd ever seen that room from that angle. That's the music room. Look at this room.

Yeah, the music room has been added. We've added a new room to this season. So you'll be seeing a new room. And if you notice last season, season three, we had the Chamber of Curiosities, which is that giant like Harry Potter looking library. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that took like that goes to our, you know, set designer who's amazing. And they designed that during a pandemic. Like they couldn't even go to like, you know, Home Depot to get wood to build this. The fact that they built a brand new set during a pandemic safely, it took six months to build that

six months to build that beautiful set and it has opening doors like the shelves open and they reveal the world where the jalopy was remember the jalopy episode with the car yes the fucking cars

Yeah, there's a the library has a VHS porn section that like from top to bottom, like detail. I walk into this set and I see some stuff that I'm like, I looked I went to the fancy room is where from the pilot episode where we have the meetings in the fancy room. And I went to the desk and I looked at a bunch of pile of papers and there's like fake dust and everything. And then I pulled one of the papers out and I opened it. It was a Disneyland map for 1969.

in in their stuff and i was like what how is this should this be here this is an original map from like disney like and it was just hidden in our shelves because everything has to be antique and old and what's that story there like there's a story there that we could pull from like at one point did they go to disney wait like what like so the story that you can just pull from the library alone like the books that are there like it's insane

It's really crazy. But then again, when everybody's in like high horror vampire drag, it would be absurd if the environment wasn't on that level. Yeah. It has to be up to par. And the lighting is so fucking fierce. The lighting is so great. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful.

And there's so many little stupid running jokes when you've watched the show as long as so religiously as we have. I mean, every time there's a new season when it's over, I just started again. Yeah. And yelling bat whenever you fly. Stupid. So stupid. So funny. And then, you know, I want to come back to, I mean, I know it's not like a full lifetime yet. That guy that Nadia every lifetime, like almost fell in love with him. Jeff. Jeff. Oh, yes. Is it Jib? Jib. Jib. Jerm? Jerm?

- Jess. - So funny. - He's great, he's wonderful. He was in the pilot and then he came back as a ghost, remember? - Yes. - And that looked cool. That was our first episode of season two. - The ghost episode was so good. - So good. And those were like, it's hard to do because all those characters,

are the same character. So like, you have to like get dressed into full drag for like, you know, the vampires and then get out of drag to play the ghost in their drag and then be in lights and blah, blah, blah. So those were so hard to shoot because it's the same person talking to each other. Like, it's very like parent trap, the original one. Yeah. It's very parent trap. Like where, like, it's like, you know, and, and the horse, the horse is a ghost. Yeah. Yeah.

John. My horse, John.

And that's how we also got the Nadia baby doll, though, which is so fucking crazy. It's so insane. I said they have to make that doll. They have to make that doll. Everyone has now their, at this point, has a catchphrase. And I think, you know, for everyone like that, you know, and this fucking guy or Guillermo, you know, or for Guillermo used to be, my name is Guillermo La Cruz. And just recently, I've noticed through the fan base online that like the new quote that they chose for him is, you live because I let you live.

That scene was so fierce. That came out of nowhere. And like, as a viewer, you go, oh my God, I never realized that Guillermo might really be able to whoop his ass. Yeah. I mean, or go toe to toe. Absolutely. Yeah. Like the power shift. You're like, oh my God, this has been, it really reminds you of like,

Guillermo now is just really letting them feel powerful. Yeah. Yeah. And remember that, uh, everyone has their limits and I think that's a good thing. And the nice thing I like about Guillermo is that, uh,

Everyone can be pushed. Everyone can be pushed to your limits. You're a nice guy until you're not. And you made me a bad guy. You know what I mean? It's like, there's no reason not to be nice. And if you just continue to push people, you don't know what they're capable of. It's like, don't try me. Like, try me. You know, just like that idea. I could not believe, I won't spoil it for anybody who hasn't seen the third season all the way through, but. If they haven't seen it, they deserve to get spoiled. No, no, no, I wouldn't. But that last little, little. Oh, the moment. Yeah. I was like, oh.

I was gagged. I was gagged. The baby. Oh, the baby. Yeah. It's so, so insane. So insane. Holding the glasses. So insane. Yeah. So insane. So it's a little traumatized. It broke my heart when I read that because here you think you're so hopeful. You're like, things are going to work out. And then you're like, Oh no.

And then you like, you know, fucking Laszlo. Yeah. Because he's protecting Laszlo's protecting what he loves. Right. Yeah. He's making sure that his lady love is protected. Yeah. So he's doing it out of love, but out of love for someone you're hurting another potential. Yeah. I knew enough not to be satisfied with like, with a happy ending, but that totally threw me for, it was like, I was like, holy shit, this is wild. Yeah. Crazy. People were gagging. Like they were gagging. It was gagging. I literally was like, yeah.

Yeah. Yes. Well, I guess we could wrap it up here, but I mean, congratulations on just be, I mean, you're so great. You really make this show so great. I can't believe I'm so happy you through luck and magic and talent are on just the best show on TV. Yeah. Oh, thank you. That's really kind. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your very hectic vampire sling schedule to be with us here today.

Oh my God. Are you kidding me? I'm such a fan. I'm like, so giddy. Oh yeah. You love the drag race. You love the girls. That's the best thing about getting famous on drag race is that cool fucking celebrities with actual talent are fans of us. That is the, that is like, I love it. I keep saying I haven't been a judge on drag race, but I want to find it. Okay. I'll hook that up and then hook this up.

If there's ever a Russian transvestite vampire character. No, no, no. I do, mama. I can go from this to Gollum in about 12 minutes. So like I can, it's a real easy fix. Yeah. Or you know what? Even easier. If you need like a disgusting. A disgusting, haggard, 172 year old vampire troll swamp thing. Mama, I'll do my own makeup. It'll be flawless. Yeah.

Are you kidding me? I literally have already put you both on like the list for casting. I was like, if there's anything and like, I literally die. I'm like, I want to work with people that like, I'm such a fan of. I love, uh, yes, it's going to happen. By the way, this is the five degrees, seven degrees of separation. Um, Kate Beckinsale loves Katya who played a vampire in underworld underworld. And not only that, not only that, um, uh,

Uh, you mentioned, um, Judy Greer a little while ago. Judy Greer. Yeah. Yeah. I worked with her. I don't know how that's relevant. And I worked with her at the Petco. Yeah. Well, I, I, I followed her home from the supermarket one day. Close enough. Close enough. Oh, can you let the girls know where they can find you? Oh yeah, please, please. How can we find you on social media? Yeah.

You can find me on Twitter, on Instagram. Just my full name, Harvey Guillen, on Twitter and Instagram. How do you spell that? G-U-I? G-U-I-L-L-E-N. Got it. And you spell Harvey, H-A-R-V-E-Y. Harvey Guillen. Call now. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for coming on, babe. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I love you both. I'm such a fan. And thank you so much for watching the show. It means the world. Oh, my God. When is the next season coming out?

Next season is coming out next year. So that's my problem. I want it like big brother. I want it on every night, hour long. I know. But, but look at it this way, because, you know, if you look at the math, we shot season three in January of this year till April. And it's already, you already binged all through that. So we finished a full season in one year and started a new season in the same year. So we did two seasons in 10 months. I'm sorry. It's not fast enough. It's not fast enough. You people don't need sleep. Okay. You don't need sleep.

Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your day.