What we do in the shadows ends this month after six seasons on FX and executive produced Taika Waititi I can’t believe the vampire mockumentary made it this far.
The New Zealand filmmaker – who also co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the 2014 WWDITS movie who inspired the TV show – recently spoke with Weekly Entertainment to reflect on some of his best-known projects. In typically irreverent fashion, he expressed surprise that the small screen Shadows lasted as long as it lasted.
“It lasted too long, but I’m proud of it,” Waititi said. “I thought the movie, when we were making the movie, I said to Jemaine (Clément)“It’s like it’s a five-minute idea that we’re stretching into a movie.” Then we did six seasons with the same idea.”
Russ Martin/FX
Launched in 2019, What we do in the shadows follows four vampire roommates and their human familiar – played by Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Mark Proksch and Harvey Guillén – as they navigate the modern world in wacky ways. (The 90-minute film had the same basic premise but featured a different group of vampires.)
Waititi, who appeared in several episodes of What we do in the shadowscheekily stated that his favorite aspect of the series was its relatively hands-off approach. “My favorite memory was not having to put on vampire teeth and forcing other people to do it,” he said. “That was probably my favorite. Also, those guys were maybe funnier than us.”
THE Thor: Ragnarok And Jojo Rabbit The director also recalled having difficulty obtaining the Shadows film lit in the first place. “This movie was rejected by every studio Jemaine and I pitched it to, because we said, ‘It’s going to cost $1 million,’ and every studio said, ‘We don’t even know how to do it. a film for so little,’” Waititi recalls. “So they said, ‘Who’s in the movie? Who’s going to be in it?’ We said, “Well, we want to have Johnny,” and they said, “Ooh, Johnny, yeah, okay, Johnny, you mean Johnny (Depp) And we said, ‘No, our friend? Johnny (Brugh). He is a landscape architect. He does landscaping in Auckland.'”
Araya Doheny/Variety via Getty
Waititi discussed his work on the pirate sitcom Our flag means death Also. “Wonderful pirate show where I became a gay icon overnight,” he joked. “If you love pirates and hate straight people, this is the show for you. I had the time of my life. I played Blackbeard. Me and Rhys (Darby) I had a lot of romantic moments on that set (off camera too). Yes, it was a fantastic two seasons of that show, and I was just very, very proud to do that.”
Despite his positive feelings towards the series, however, Waititi noted that he despised his character’s wardrobe. “I think my most memorable memory is that beard, which drove me crazy,” he said. “The character is very grumpy, and it wasn’t acting. I hated wearing that beard and that wig with a passion. It was definitely someone else’s hair too. So that’s the second time, or actually several times now, that I’ve worn other people’s hair on my head Look, it’s our job, right? You want to reach the pinnacle of acting success, you have to wear. other humans in your face.
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Watch the video above to learn more about Waititi. THE What we do in the shadows The series finale airs December 16 on FX.