What We Do in the Shadows‘ Matt Berry on Vampires, Memes, and Star Wars

Matt Berry gained fame in the U.S. thanks to What We Do in the Shadows‘ Laszlo—topiary artist, musician, scientist, frisky husband, BAT!, home-renovation fan,  occasional “regular human bartender”—but before he was a vampire, he was much-loved in the UK for his turns on The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, and more. Now, of course, he’s instantly recognizable by fans around the globe, even if it’s just his voice (as in The Book of Boba Fett and new movie The Wild Robot).

io9 got a chance to talk to Berry ahead of What We Do in the Shadows‘ sixth and final season, and yes, we asked him about Star Wars.

Cheryl Eddy, io9: In season six we see Laszlo remembering one of his great goals was to bring a dead body back to life. Why do you think Laszlo is so fascinated by that?

Matt Berry: Well, to bring a body back to life and to be able to have sex with it—I think that’s what everybody else thinks his motives are. Much like the Rocky Horror Show, I think similar to what Frank-N-Furter was scheming to do. I assumed that was his main aim. But, you know, we’ll never know.

io9: Why do you think Laszlo is so interested in science?

Berry: I’m not sure he is, as such. I think he’s more interested in how it looks and being able to tell people that you’re a scientist and that you’re building a human being. I think that’s what he’s interested in. I think he’s interested in the conceit and the pose of it, rather than the actual academic side. I don’t think he would have much time for that.

io9: Nadja and Laszlo are not exactly relationship goals, but they’ve definitely made it work over the centuries. What do you think is the key to them staying together, beyond raw physical attraction? Is there an emotional component?

Berry: Well, there’s an obvious emotional sort of connection. He’s quite old-fashioned in his protective nature towards her, which she finds irritating outwardly. But I think she finds it a comfort, inwardly. And they’re very different, and I think that isn’t ever a bad thing.

io9: Which character trait of Laszlo’s have you enjoyed playing the most?

Berry: I thought that you were going to say, “which I am the most.” I always answer the same thing: we just sound the same, and I hope that’s where it ends.

It’s all been a joy for me because you don’t have to develop him. You don’t have to actually develop any of the characters because the whole point of them is they’re immortals that can live in those clothes doing those things for another hundred years, another 600 years. They don’t have to change. They don’t have to move with the times or widen their scope of life in any way. That’s the biggest joy: he hasn’t changed since the pilot; [he’s] the same person, saying the same kind of things, doing the same things, sort of treating people in a very similar way. The only difference is because you’ve been with them for six seasons. You’ve just seen a lot more of their personalities. But their personalities, I don’t think will be any different from the last episode as they were in the pilot.

© Russ Martin/FX

io9: I think my favorite Laszlo moment is when he has the pool cue fight with Jim the Vampire, played by Mark Hamill.

Berry: Yeah, that’s my favorite.

io9: And then, of course, you ended up being in Star Wars yourself because you voiced 8D8 on The Book of Boba Fett. Can you talk a little bit about your Star Wars fandom and what it was like getting to play opposite Mark in that scene?

Berry: If you speak to anyone my age, really, you couldn’t escape Star Wars in the same way that you couldn’t escape Jaws or any of these other massive cultural moments. Star Wars was as potent and as powerful in every continent, and it’s one of these things that I can’t remember a world without. Like people have religion, it’s always been there. I’m not saying it’s my religion, but I don’t know a world without Star Wars. So it feels very comfortable in that way.

So to then be in something with a key part of that culture took some getting used to. And then on top of that, to be holding the snooker cue like a lightsaber while he was doing the same thing back at me, that took some real getting used to. It’s one of those moments where you think, “How the fuck did I end up here doing this with him?” It’s just one of those moments [where] you feel very lucky. Other people might not get anything out of that, but I very much appreciate it.

io9: What We Do in the Shadows has very passionate fans. Was there a particular moment that caught on with the fan base that you were particularly proud of, or particularly surprised by?

Berry: Because I also live in the UK, live in the UK first and foremost, it’s not such a popular show here. So it isn’t until I go to the states, or to work on it, that you kind of realize that. So that’s always kind of kept the Brit cast fairly level-headed about this show because there isn’t the excitement in the UK for the show. But then when you go to the U.S., you can see that there is.

So that’s been quite good for me. It doesn’t make me say, “Everyone loves this show.” You don’t think that. So I’m just always surprised by any of those things I get sent. I’m not on TikTok or Instagram or any of those things. So when I [see a fan meme where they’re] just kind of just taking a couple of sentences that I normally don’t even remember saying and they’re on a loop, it just kind of makes you wonder why that, of all the things, why that one. That’s always my question: “I don’t understand why that one.” So yeah, it’s always a bit of a surprise. But don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge honor as well. For anyone to like it enough to repeat it and make a little reel out of it is a huge honor.

What We Do in the Shadows drops the first three episodes of season six October 21 on FX, streaming the next day on Hulu.

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