‘What We Do in the Shadows’: 12 Behind The Scenes Secrets From Season 5 of the Most Elaborate Comedy on Television

We’ll find out if Guillermo was turned into a vampire.

Season 4 ended on one of this show’s biggest cliffhangers to date. After serving as Nandor’s (Kayvan Novak) familiar for more than a decade, Guillermo (Guillen) finally took matters into his own hands, offering to pay his friend Derek (Chris Sandiford) to turn him into a vampire. It’s a huge moment, seeing as how Guillermo has desperately wanted to be a bloodsucker since Episode 1. And it’s a moment that’s going to have major consequences for this show.

“From [Seasons] 4 to 5, I will say, he’s definitely at a crossroads. I feel that he’s taking matters into his own hands, and choices have consequences. Whatever that may be, whatever choices you make in your own life, you have no one to blame but yourself,” Guillen said. “The backstory I’ve given Guillermo is that he was bullied when he was little, and he wanted to be a vampire because they were so beautiful and glamorous and free — sexually, they had everything at their fingertips and they were immortal… Now, finding out that he’s a Van Helsing is throwing a wrench in it. And he’s really good at it, accidentally really great at being this vampire killer. I mean, like Buffy, who?”

Guillen quickly added that he was joking and that he would love for Sarah Michelle Gellar to come onto the show. “But he wants to be what he wanted since he was a child. Sometimes the dreams or the lifestyle we wanted aren’t necessarily what’s best for you,” Guillen said. “And sometimes you stop and realize that the life you’re living right now is pretty great, but you’re not even stopping to smell the roses.”

Prepare for some new character match-ups.

At the end of each season, writer and producer Sam Johnson revealed that the writer’s room takes stock of which characters haven’t been paired up so far. “It’s not a post-mortem or anything,” Johnson said. “Last year, it was Laszlo [Matt Berry] and baby Colin Robinson [Mark Proksch].” 

So what can we expect for this year? Without spoiling why, a now scientifically-focused Lazlo will be spending more time with Guillermo. “I think it’s fun because it is sort of an unexpected friendship,” supervising producer and writer Sarah Naftalis said. “Putting the characters together in unexpected ways but also letting the other vampires react to a new ‘This is weird’ is really funny.”

What else can we expect? Nadja (Demetriou) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) will be sharing more screen time, and we’re going to see a different side of Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship. But the big change this season is more of a group activity. 

“It feels like the gang’s back together,” Kayvan Novak, the man behind Nandor the Relentless, said. “We’ve been doing our own things with different people, so coming back into that fold is amusing. We all get quite hyper around each other, which is great because you feel like you’ve come back to school almost… It’s definitely a childlike feeling. But then that plays into the fact that we’re all dressed up pretending to be other people and playing make-believe.”

The vampires will once again be hitting the town. 

One of the biggest challenges of What We Do in the Shadows has always been its timing. Just as the series was hitting its stride and finding its audience, the COVID-19 pandemic forced two of its seasons — Seasons 3 and 4 — to pull these vampire roommates off the streets of Staten Island. That’s about to change in Season 5. 

“We’ve been able to be outdoors more and have larger set pieces with more extras, which feels exciting. It feels more like Season 1 and 2 in that way,” Novak said. “[Viewers] will see the the vampires out and in the in the public arena more. I always like seeing us in those worlds rather than in a kind of new music room, even though the sets are all very sumptuous. Putting the vampires in a convenience store or on a street corner is also quite exciting.”

The Guide will have her own story.

One of the best parts of Season 4 was the expansion of Kristen Schaal’s recurring character, The Guide. An envoy of the Vampiric Council, The Guide originally started as a figure these bloodthirsty friends feared. As the series progressed, she became an annoyance they ignored and later Nadja’s (Natasia Demetriou) righthand woman during her nightclub phase. That’s all about to change. The Guide is finally getting her time in the spotlight thanks to an arc that sounds perfect for one of our queens of awkward, Schaal.

“I get mad,” Schaal teased.

“The other vampires, she’s having trouble connecting with them. She’s definitely in her head about it and is just feeling more and more on the outside,” Schaal said. “One thing I love about The Guide’s journey is that I’ve definitely, desperately felt like I wanted to be part of a group that I didn’t think wanted me. So it’s really relatable for me to play this part. I mean, as an adult, things like that have been going on in my life. Like ‘What do you mean I’m not invited to the vacation?’”

As for what The Guide’s actual name is, even Schaal doesn’t know it. However, she does have a theory. “In my mind, I feel like she’s lived so long, she had a name. She forgot it,” Schaal said. 

Nadja will be doing more stunts. 

If there’s one detail that sets What We Do in the Shadows’ set apart, it’s the emphasis on collaboration. Whether that means designing special versions of certain costumes to assist with stunts and props or constructing a full removable ceiling to make the mansion look authentic, this is a team that takes pride in highlighting each others’ strengths. That extends to how each episode is written. 

“We definitely think of the performers, even down to word choice,” Naftalis said. “There are certain things that Matt Berry is very funny at saying, certain syllables or sounds. We try to give him those types of words. But then someone like Natasia Demetriou, who is a brilliant physical comedian — I feel like this season we have an episode which really showcases how exceptionally talented she is at that. Now that we’ve spent so much time with these characters, there’s certain stories inspired by the performers.”

Laszlo is going to have anther sword fight. 

Nadja won’t be the only one getting physical. After battling Jim the Vampire in Season 2, Laszlo will have an “Errol Flynn sword fighting” scene at some point this season.

“It’s going to be epic,” Berry said. “That’s the most impressive thing that I’ve ever been part of. I think when you see it — I don’t want to big it up too much. But in a comedy, and with the detail that went into it, and the fact that there’s no need for it at all? Which is always the best.” Speaking of Laszlo…

Those memorable pronunciations? They’re all Matt Berry.

It’s hard to scroll through TikTok without hearing Berry pronounce “Ari-zone-ia” or “New York Cit-ay.” Nowadays, Simms admits that he intentionally writes Laszlo’s lines to be more “Baroque and complicated” than they need to be. “Sometimes I feel like I do go too far, and he’s like ‘Can we shorten this and make it a little bit easier?’” Simms said. But one of the most quotable elements of this beloved show came about from Berry’s sense of humor and unique way of maintaining his co-stars’ attentions. 

“It’s the first thing that I do to keep it interesting for me. It’s what I find funny. And if anyone else does, that’s a pure bonus,” Berry said. “ They don’t put them in for me. They just let me do them wherever I want, and I don’t know when they’re going to come. It could happen just to make someone pay attention. If you’re speaking to a character, and he sort of looks away, it’s to bring them back. That can be the sole reason for it without any other thought.”

There will be another format-breaking episode.

According to Simms, it’s crucial to the writer’s room that they never repeat themselves. It’s an ethos they embrace “maybe to a fault.” Even when they know a certain story or character pairing works, they push themselves to create scenarios they’ve never done before. There’s one big exception to this rule: the format-breaking episode.

“I was saying that we don’t like to think about what we did before and duplicate it. The one exception is ever since we did the Jackie Daytona — which sort of veered off into its own documentary — every season we do talk about, ‘What’s a weird episode that is a weird format break?’” Simms said. Last season gave viewers the home improvement spoof, “Go Flip Yourself.” Season 5’s change-of-pace promises to be equally elaborate and ridiculous.

Nandor is going to outer space.

You read that correctly. When asked what he was most excited for in Season 5, Novak had one clear answer: going to space. “Nandor does that because he says that he can. Someone is like, ‘No, you can’t.’ And he’s like, ‘Yes, I can,” Novak said.

Yana Gorskaya is the director behind this upcoming episode. Gorskaya edited the original movie of the same name as well as every episode of the series and has directed 12 episodes since Season 2. But even with all of that experience in this wild world, figuring out Nandor’s space hair proved to be a challenge. 

“I did a bunch of research about how people have done it in the past. Finally, we went back to Barbarella with Jane Fonda, and that was the test that by far looked the best,” Gorskaya said. “So we’re going with the Barbarella approach. We’re lying him on a glass plate and just kind of moving him.

Colin Robinson will be taking a stab at politics. 

After two seasons of dissecting energy vampire lore and playing a rapidly aging child, Proksch is happy that the show is returning to its sillier roots. “Maybe more than any season, there aren’t a lot of huge story arcs. It’s a lot of hilarious standalone episodes, some of the funniest I think we’ve done,” Proksch said. “It’s kind of a relief after two really heavy, story-driven seasons to have it go back to a Season 3 or 4 or 2 where it’s some really great standalone stuff.”

One of Colin Robinson’s standalone stories will involve him running for Comptroller of Staten Island. “It’s gonna reflect, somewhat, the political campaigns we see in our real life,” Proksch said. “It’s interesting because I’ve always wondered why they hadn’t done politics for an energy vampire. It’s just such a great avenue, and there’s so much out there to do.”

Prepare for some next-level creatures.

Of course, you can’t have a creature comedy without the creatures. From Season 1, that’s where prosthetics designer Paul Jones has shined. He’s the man responsible for everything from the Baron and Laszlo’s cursed hat to the myriad of creatures in the Night Market. Somehow he’s managed to create these bizarre creations in eight weeks or less, taking obscure notes like “Nadja doll” and bringing it to life. 

This season embraces Jones’ talents even more than usual, especially when it comes to Guillermo. Prepare for new prosthetics, robotics, puppets, and more. “It’s been a fun show because they try to do as much as they can practically,” Jones said. “I very rarely don’t get it right the first time… The thing I learned in Season 1 is always find the funny.”

The real star on set will forever be the Nadja doll. 

It’s clear that one part of the What We Do in the Shadows’ family stands head and shoulders above the rest — well, maybe just shoulders. Naturally, it’s the Nadja doll. 

“The doll’s my favorite because it’s had this lasting effect. It was literally built as a throwaway joke, and everybody fell in love with it. Now she’s a cast member,” Jones said. That’s not an exaggeration, by the way. Since her Season 2 appearance, the Nadja doll has appeared in nearly every episode. Jones admits that when he first made the doll, he was watching a lot of Family Guy. Now when he sees her, he’s reminded of the Seth MacFarlane comedy.

It’s not just Jones who’s smitten. For every extravagant dress that emerges from costume designer Laura Montgomery’s workshop, there’s a tiny matching one for the doll. Montgomery always makes sure the elaborate dresses of the doll are to scale, even if that means custom stitching and spending valuable time searching for the perfect fabric. “I really think she should at least have her own coffee table book,” Montgomery said.