The second season of FX's What We Do in the Shadows TV series kicked off last month, and an upcoming episode will feature the appearance of a certain beloved actor who was quite vocal about his love for the first season – Mark Hamill. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, What We Do in the Shadows executive produce and co-showrunner Paul Simms said, "Mark had tweeted some very nice things about the movie and the show very early on in our first season, so we knew he understood the world of the show. And also, he seemed perfect for the part because he has the gravitas to play an ancient vampire rival, he’s not afraid to be silly, and he knows a thing or two about extended fight scenes." You can check out Hamill going full-vampire below.
As Simms mentioned, Mark Hamill is playing an ancient vampire in the May 13th episode, titled On the Run, which finds the actor introduced as a "vengeful enemy from Laszlo's (Matt Berry) past who appears without warning to settle a personal debt. This causes Laszlo to flee his home and go into hiding." Hamill also spoke of his love for What We Do in the Shadows, both the TV series as well as the feature-film directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.
I remember it was Father's Day and I had my three kids over and we were picking a movie to watch. I suggested Life With Father which is old school but I liked it as a kid because I'm from a big family. But all my kids rolled their eyes. They said it's cornball so I asked them what they wanted to watch and my son Nathan suggested What We Do in the Shadows. I had never heard of it but he explained it was a reality show about vampires and I was very intrigued. I was completely unprepared for what I saw, it was so incredibly clever and compelling. It had all the elements of a horror movie and yet, it combined the magnificent with the mundane. Who thinks of things like this? I had to stop it multiple times to really absorb what we had just seen. It's one of my favorite movies ever.
"When I heard they were making a TV series, I thought I needed to lower my expectations," Hamill continued. "Neither Taika nor Jemaine was going to be acting in it, but I heard they were behind it so I remained hopeful. We saw the pilot and, not only was it on par with the film, but it added elements that I had never heard before like the addition of the energy vampire. The whole cast is one of the best ensembles in television history. I would've been happy just visiting the set, they certainly didn't need me to come in and mess it up somehow. But I thought I would check out the script and see what they had in mind. I expected the role to be like the next door neighbor or someone who works at the Department of Motor Vehicles. When I read I was going to play a vampire, I just about shot out of my chair. What a great honor!"
What We Do in the Shadows airs on FX on Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT.