Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch Discuss ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Finale, Hinting at Future Possibilities: “They’ll Be Back”

Vampires are immortal, but we always knew What We Do in the Shadows would come to an end. Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch are bidding farewell to the supernatural comedy, which just wrapped with a fitting finale after six outrageous, hilarious seasons of FX.

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Of course, their characters had slightly different reactions to the Shadows finale, to put it lightly. In a meta twist, the residents of the Staten Island mansion are told the camera crew who has been following them for years is finally calling cut after getting enough footage for their documentary. Colin (Proksch) and the rest of the vampires are unbothered, while Guillermo (Guillén) is alarmed and dismayed, then surprised to find that the vampires have been the subject of a few film projects before.

While speaking with DECIDER about the end of the show, Guillén said his character felt “betrayed” that nobody told him the camera crew would be leaving.

“It’s really funny, but again, he’s human, so those things sting. Being left out is hurtful and not being told and being the last to know,” he said. “So it kind of goes through an emotional rollercoaster this season. It was a lot of emotional stuff for Guillermo this season.”

As for Proksch, his character gets his own star turn in the finale within the finale, an homage to The Usual Suspects in which he assumes the Kevin Spacey role.

“I wanted it to live as if Colin Robinson was actually in The Usual Suspects. So it was really interesting. And it’s always fun any time you get to take a character and then put a little twist on it,” he told us.

For more about how Proksch and Guillén feel about the end of Shadows, what they stole from the set and their characters’ common threads, keep reading for our full conversation.

DECIDER: I feel like both of your characters are kind of underestimated on the show sometimes, and I’m wondering what it’s been like for you both to play sort of the underdog these past six seasons.

HARVEY GUILLÉN: Guillermo, generally speaking, the first season he was the servant and he was kind of in the background and most of my acting consisted of facial expressions. And I think after Season 1 they give him more and more to do, which was nice, and the whole Van Helsing thing. So you know, never judge a book by its cover. You never know what’s going on.

And same with Colin Robinson. I always think it’s so fun how the writers can find so many layers for us to play, thinking of the trajectory that both Guillermo and Colin have had is really cool. My favorite episodes are like what happens to Coin when he’s at work or his dating life and the stuff that happens with Guillermo when he’s at home with his mom, and we see this different side of him where he’s a provider and he’s taking care of his family unbeknownst to the vampires, they couldn’t care less. But it’s really sweet to see that side, the way he interacts with humans outside of the house and the way that he interacts with the vampires. He’s more calm and quieter in the house because he’s worried about getting a demerit or another ten-year sentence of being a familiar. And in the real world, people think he’s interesting and he’s cool — or at least sometimes. So it’s nice to play those kind of layers.

MARK PROKSCH: I love playing characters that kind of fly below the radar and come in and and have a line or two and then leave the scene. I’ve always liked those characters in shows that I’m a fan of. So it’s interesting playing that archetype for me.

And then I just have to ask, what was it like filming that scene where Colin is repeatedly punching Guillermo in the office?

MP: We had a lot of fun. That was really fun. Harvey is one of my favorite actors to work opposite of because he’s very intuitive and he tees things up for you. Some actors won’t do that because they want to have the joke or they want to be the star of that scene. But Harvey isn’t that. He’s always willing to go along with whatever route that you’re taking. And that scene was no different. He just played it perfectly to a tee. And so it was fun, just us fake fighting.

HG: That’s very nice. Thank you, Mark. It’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. No, that’s not true, he’s very nice. Mark and I don’t really get to do a lot of scenes together, but whenever we do, I love that these characters have this chemistry. They kind of bounce off each other. And he’s right. I really go along with the setup and whatever makes the scene work, whatever it takes to set it up is what I’m willing to do. We were so in sync that people thought that he really punched me. After the first take, the director came back and was like, ‘Are you OK?’ Because from the angle  they shot it and the way that I bounced my head perfectly timed to his hand, just hitting my face, it looked like he hit my face every time.

You need that kind of trust and being in sync with the other actor because there could be accidents and there was not a moment where I didn’t trust that Mark would not get it right. Also, we have a stunt coordinator with us.  The take we ended up using on the episode was the first take. They asked us to do it again, but we didn’t really need to. I had to cover my face to the ground because when Mark gets on top of me and starts punching me and gets this angry Colin out of him, jut hearing that voice come out of Mark and the character was too funny in the moment. I think I did like cover my face to the ground because I was kind of laughing inside. So it was a fun moment to do, and he went for it.

And Harvey, in this final episode, your character asks the documentary crew if they were ever going to tell him they were going to stop filming. What do you think your character’s relationship was like to the documentary crew over these six seasons? Because we almost forget they’re there the whole time, but they are in every episode.

HG: I think it’s funny that this season we get hints of like the secret life that Guillermo might be having with some of the crew members. It’s insane who he might be having a little rendezvous with. And the idea that we don’t get to see behind the scenes a lot because we forget that’s a documentary that’s following this group. But once again, I feel like Guillermo is feeling betrayed. I feel like things are happening around him that he has no control of. And that seems to be the ongoing storyline where he can’t control his destiny, can’t control what his life is going to look like.

And the backstory that I give Guillermo is that he always wanted to be a vampire because it was a guaranteed life of leisure and he was going to stay young forever. He can accumulate wealth, he can look fabulous. He can be his real self, his sexuality, because these vampires in the household, they’re all part of the queer community, basically, and no one judges your sexuality or sexual preference when you live forever, for eternity. So it was nice to look back and once again, he’s been kept out of the loop and the documentary crew hasn’t told him. And so it’s really funny, but again, he’s human, so those things sting. Being left out is hurtful and not being told and being the last to know. So it kind of goes through an emotional rollercoaster this season. It was a lot of emotional stuff for Guillermo this season.

Mark, in the finale you have kind of a key role playing the villain almost in that The Usual Suspects scene. What was it like filming that for you?

MP: That was really fun. It took a minute to try to figure out how Colin Robinson would behave in this situation and staying faithful to the original movie. I didn’t want to do my Kevin Spacey take on it. I wanted it to live as if Colin Robinson was actually in The Usual Suspects. So it was really interesting. And it’s always fun any time you get to take a character and then put a little twist on it. Like when Colin is reborn and becomes a baby, it just breathed new life into the character for you. And the crew and the director, Yana Gorskaya and our DP, they just matched the mood of that film and the shooting style so perfectly. The set was absolutely perfect. We have such an incredible crew — or had — such an incredible crew up there that it’s so easy just to fall in to the world that you’re getting to play against. And I think they nailed it for The Usual Suspects.

Harvey, Nandor and Guillermo share a moment in the finale where Nandor says he has lots of reasons why he’s glad the crew isn’t filming any more, but his reasons are not very emotional. What do you think your character was hoping that Nandor would say in that moment?

HG: I think he would want to see a little bit of his human side after all these years because  he was human at one point and he’s been a vampire for so long. And I think Guillermo deep down inside really does like human connection and really wants a little bit of that. You want it from someone that can’t necessarily give it to you, and is that the old time tradition of  wanting something that you can’t have? I think sometimes you have to realize that when relationships, whether it’s work relationships or love or personal, family or whatnot, you want something from someone, but they’re going to give you the best version of themselves that they can, and sometimes that’s enough for you or it’s not, and you have to make a decision.

So I think there was a moment where Guillermo realized this is him giving the best of himself that he can to Guillermo and taking that. Because for so long you imagine what that should look like. And when you stop and have no expectations and just have people show you who they are and show you what they’re capable of in love or affection or appreciation, they just accept it. And the sooner you do that, the sooner you’re at peace, I think. And I think it took all these years all together over a decade with Guillermo being a familiar to realize that this is his version and that’s good enough.

I was talking to Kayvan and Kristen earlier, and I asked them this, but I was curious what both of your answers would be: Did you take anything from the set to commemorate your time on the show?

MP: I took just some knickknack-y things. The style of the interior doesn’t really match any of the decor for my house, so it wouldn’t have made sense. But I took the portrait that The Guide painted of Colin. Not that I would ever put it up in the house, but just to have it. We get asked to donate stuff to charities quite often. So that was top of mind when I was going through the house.

HG: I went the opposite way. I’m a collector of things. I asked for certain things, but everybody had dibs on stuff. I had a pretty long list as a backup in case the things that I wanted were taken, which a lot of them were. I think I wanted that lamp in the front of the house that Yana ended up getting. There’s [another] lamp that’s always by Nandor’s door that I always turned off. At the beginning of the pilot I did that, and then in the end I did it. I was like, I really like this lamp, I’ve spent so much time with his lamp, and I have that lamp at my home. The décor in my house is a craftsman-like style, so it goes really well with my home. I made my my guest house into kind of the vibe of a Goth style.

I did take stuff along the years. When they shot the pilot I didn’t know if we were going to come back, so I took one of the original glasses from Guillermo and his original Casio watch with the little calculator on it. You never know in the future, for charities and stuff, this stuff could help an organization. Mark’s the one who gave me that idea later in the seasons where I was like, that’s right, we could potentially do this. I took a lot of his sweaters, which are going to go big. I didn’t keep any of his embezzling days. I didn’t keep any of his Versace or anything.

MP: That’s what you should have kept!

HG: That’s what I should have kept. But I kept the sweaters, little stuff. In the foyer when you come in, Guillermo always has keys to the door and he puts them in the little holder in the hallway. They were nice enough to give me that little key holder.

Were you both surprised by how the finale panned out, or was it kind of what you were expecting?

HG: I was surprised and I wasn’t sure how they would wrap things up. But the way that it wrapped it’s such a nice way and it’s so funny. And I think everyone shines and we see everyone’s stories wrap up. It’s really nice, but also leaves it up for possibilities. This group of misfits in a household has touched so many people’s lives and has been something that has become part of pop culture that I could have never imagined. They’re not gone forever because forever’s an awfully long time. I feel like these characters will live on in this world, or who knows? But anything’s possible.

MP: I really enjoyed how they wrapped up the show. I think it tonally is exactly right for what we’ve done in the past. And I also love the fact, like Harvey was saying, that it leaves a door open. And I think that is a blueprint already for a good movie out of this show. So who’s to say that a couple of years down the road we won’t be back together filming a silly little adventure with these idiots.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What We Do in the Shadows Seasons 1-6 are now streaming on Hulu.