What We Do in the Shadows producers on the recent star-studded episode

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you caught last night’s episode of FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, you were likely blown away by the number of celebrity cameos they managed to pack in. The series follows three vampires, Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Lazslo (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), who have been roommates for hundreds and hundreds of years in Staten Island, and the latest episode found the trio facing an international vampire tribunal.

As Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement serve as executive producers on the TV series in addition to writing and directing several episodes, it was only a matter of time before they, plus Jonathan Brugh, reprised their roles from the WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS movie.The original bloodsuckers weren’t the only notable members of the tribunal, as others were played by notable actors who have all played vampires before: Tilda Swinton (ONLY LOVERS LEFT ARRIVE), Paul Reubens (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood), Danny Trejo (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN), and Wesley Snipes (BLADE), who chimed in via Skype. Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers) and Dave Bautista (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) also popped up in the episode. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Waititi, Clement, and fellow producer Paul Simms spoke about how the star-studded episode came together

“Well, Taika and I were talking about appearing in the show, but trying to think how our characters would be in Staten Island, or with those characters in New Zealand, or in a third location, and also keeping an eye on story,” Clement said. “I’d been to SXSW with [the movie version of] What We Do in the Shadows, and Tilda Swinton was there [with Only Lovers Left Alive], and our films were playing almost together, two vampire films. She said, “Do something where our vampire characters are together.” I just locked that away in my brain. So I thought, well, maybe a whole lot of vampires from different places have come together for some reason, and then just to tie it into the story line that we had.” Waititi added, “Jemaine picked up on the idea that we would start with one person like Tilda and then add in all the others. I asked Tilda to do it and she was like, ‘Okay, sure.’ [Laughs] That was pretty much it.” The casting directors reached out to a number of actors who have played vampires, including some who were into the idea, such as Alexander Skarsgard and Brad Pitt, but couldn’t make their schedules work. The most difficult actor to nail down was Wesley Snipes, who wasn’t familiar with the movie or the TV series, but when he finally agreed, Simms said that they headed out to a hotel room in New Jersey to shoot his scenes.

People kept saying, “Well, it’s easy, all you have to do is Skype in from wherever.” We were just worried about the picture quality being as good as it needed to be. When he finally said he would do it, initially he said, “Just come over to my house and do it, in Tenafly.” Then, he was like, “Eh, I don’t want all this equipment in my house.” So we rented a hotel room somewhere near where he lives in New Jersey. The funny thing about Wesley was, his people said, “Don’t ask Wesley to wear the dark sunglasses. He doesn’t want to wear the dark sunglasses. He doesn’t want it to look like Blade, or whatever.” We were all warned not to do that. We had a pair of glasses on standby, but I didn’t know if I was going to have the courage to ask him to wear the sunglasses. And then, when Wesley showed up, he was wearing how own sunglasses, which looked cool, and went right into it. So there was nothing to worry about.

The other funny thing about Wesley is, it was incredibly exciting for me, and the whole morning I kept thinking, I really want to take a picture with Wesley Snipes. But I was like, am I going to ask him to do that? You know, he seems so intimidating. And then when we finished shooting his part, he pulled out his phone. He was like, “Can I take a picture with everyone? I want to get pictures with all you guys. Let’s get a group picture together, and I want a picture with you.” So it was great. He was really fun and incredibly funny. When we shot the Skype thing, we set him up, and then had him Skype with Jemaine, who was in New Zealand, who sort of walked him through the scene. But Wesley did so many really funny variations.

What We Do in the Shadows was recently renewed for a second season