[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 6 of What We Do in the Shadows.]

The Big Picture

The final season of the FX series ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ explores Guillermo’s life choices after becoming human again, shifting the dynamic with Nandor.
The series continues to reference fan favorite moments, delivering fresh and funny scripts each season.
Actor Kayvan Novak shares how improv on set keeps the show fresh, praising the ensemble and satisfying experience.

The sixth and final season of the FX series What We Do in the Shadows, documenting the exploits of vampire roommates Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), sees the human-once-again Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) re-evaluating his life choices. Having briefly been a vampire and no longer wanting to be a familiar, Guillermo’s just trying to be a friend and not always put Nandor. At the same time, these unmotivated vampires with no real goals to speak of are beginning to wonder if they should find their own purpose.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Novak talked about how they’ll be referencing some fan favorite things from the series run for the final season, that he was always delighted with the scripts, how Nandor feels about the change in dynamic with Guillermo, his Richard Nixon impression, learning about a new (or rather, a forgotten) roommate this season, never half-assing the comedy, and what makes it a hard job to leave behind.

The World of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Is A Collective Where Nothing Is Forgotten
Image via FX

Collider: First of all, it was nice to see that the Vulva Garden is still thriving. I’m always happy every time we get an update there. I love that this series never forgets anything and will pick up some reference to something it has done, seasons ago. Do you appreciate how, over the seasons, this series has never really let a joke disappear and that those things often come back up?

KAYVAN NOVAK: The writers take the temperature well, when it’s time to do a call back on something from a few seasons ago. This being the final season gave them carte blanche to bring back some fan favorite things. You feel delighted when you see it. You don’t feel like you’re just being fed new shit. The memory of the experience that you lived through, over the last five seasons, hasn’t been forgotten. It’s very nice, It’s not like a new writer coming in and going, “Nah, I don’t wanna mention that. That was someone else’s idea.” It’s a collective. The world is so well drawn, and now drawn out to 61 episodes.

The thing that I find particularly interesting about the show is that every season has so much wild and batshit stuff that I always think it has to be the peak, and yet somehow it comes back the next season and is at least as funny, if not funnier, than the season before. Does this final season live up to that again? Are you surprised that this series continued to deliver at that level, six seasons in?

NOVAK: Every new script that I read, I was really delighted with it and excited to perform it. That’s just testament to the incredible writing talent and the ensemble of writers, led by Paul Simms. Their enthusiasm, their imagination, and their desire to keep things fresh, but still serve the characters so beautifully has been a blessing for me because I just got to perform the fruits of their labors.

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Every season of this series, we wonder what the dynamic between Nandor and Guillermo will be. With Guillermo being back to human this season and not interested in going back to being Nandor’s familiar, how does Nandor feel about all of what’s going on there? How does that shape their dynamic in the last season?

NOVAK: Guillermo got turned into a vampire, and then decided that he didn’t wanna be a vampire anymore. That was Nandor’s leverage. Guillermo wanted Nandor to make him a vampire, but he wasn’t gonna do it unless he did this, this, and this. Now, Nandor has been dumped by Guillermo and clearly he’s not happy about that, which is why he’s making himself a nuisance. And as Guillermo tries to create a new life for himself, Nandor’s not having that because it doesn’t involve Nandor, and it has to. That was fun.

Before Richard Nixon, ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Kayvan Novak Almost Had To Do an Impression of Erin Brockovich
Image via FX

I love the idea that sleeping vampires can be hypnotized. That’s fun enough, by itself, but then you get hypnotized into being Richard Nixon. Your showrunner told me that before deciding on Richard Nixon, you were going to be Erin Brockovich, but that there just weren’t enough good lines there to give you. What was that like to do? How did you find your inner Richard Nixon?

NOVAK: They hinted at that. Before we went to film the season, I got a tip off that I should watch Erin Brockovich. I was like, “I ain’t watching that.” And then, it changed to Richard Nixon and I just got sent a bunch of links to YouTube videos of Richard Nixon giving speeches, which I think was a much easier impression for me to do. It still made no sense to me, why Nandor would sound like Richard Nixon, but they were like, “Shut the fuck up and read this.” So, I did. And if I got away with it, then fantastic.

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Nandor and his roommates also forgot, until this season, that they had another roommate. I can’t imagine how unmemorable a roommate has to be, to be forgotten for decades, but I also love how everyone pokes fun at the fact that it disrupts the dynamic between the characters. What was it like to throw someone new into that mix?

NOVAK: [Michael Patrick] O’Brien was delightful. He was fantastic. It was like he was part of the furniture. He could have been a real sore thumb. We’re a very established ensemble, and he might have been Mr. Ambitious and tried to really assert himself among us. But he just had a quiet confidence about him that suited the character really well, and also suited all our egos because he was so easy going, which was lovely. He was great. I loved working with him. He’s so funny man. I was laughing all the time when he was acting.

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Because this is a series that has allowed for improv and play, do you put a lot of thought into that ahead of time, when you get scripts, or do you just like to see what happens in the moment? How does that typically work for you?

NOVAK: I read Nandor’s lines and I’m like, “This is great. I don’t need to change this. This is perfect.” And then, when you get on set, they make you do fun runs and mix things up a bit, which is fantastic because it really keeps you relaxed and centered. You can throw some bits in, here and there. I’m not really a prep planner, as far as improvising different lines. Usually, it’s all there on the page for me. If I felt that I had to do that all the time, it would feel like a drag. It wouldn’t feel fresh, in the moment. Ideas come, or a lot of the time, it’s from the director or the writers going, “Try this line,” or “Try that line.” It’s always been a very fertile ground for new ideas. They put the work in, in the writers’ room. They don’t half-ass it and hope that we come up with something better. They always bring the goods.

Kayvan Novak Was “Spoiled Rotten” Making ‘What We Do in the Shadows’

How do you feel about where things were left with the show and the characters, specifically your character? After six seasons, do you feel satisfied with how the series has ended and with where your character was left? What is it like to have to say goodbye to a character you’ve played for that long?

NOVAK: As an actor, this has been the most satisfying job I’ve ever done. The experience of doing it, the people I got to work with, the character I got to play, the scenes I got to act in, where we shot it, the crew, the cast, the writers, and the directors, I’ve just been spoiled rotten, on so many levels. It’s gonna be a hard one to leave, on a lot of levels. We were like a big family. It’s been magic. A lot of actors spend their entire career and never do a job as good as this. Even if it’s just one, six years is incredible.

What We Do in the Shadows offers a comedic glimpse into the nightly lives of four vampire roommates—Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, and energy vampire Colin Robinson—residing in Staten Island. Alongside their human familiar, Guillermo, they navigate modern challenges like paying rent, attending social events, and dealing with supernatural politics, all while maintaining their centuries-old habits.Release Date March 27, 2019 Streaming Service(s) Hulu

What We Do in the Shadows airs on FX and is available to stream on Hulu. Check out the Season 6 trailer:

Watch on Hulu