Harvey Guillen says his human character, Guillermo, is in a healthy place and finally trying to set boundaries with his vampire friends in the sixth and final season of What We Do in the Shadows.
It follows Guillermo, who has been working as the "familiar" or caretaker for Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Colin (Mark Proksch) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), with the hope of becoming an immortal bloodsucker himself.
At the end of Season 5, however, Guillermo finally gets his chance to become a bona fide creature of the night, but he decides not to follow through because it requires him to kill people.
"I think that was the right choice. I think sometimes you want something so bad because we make this fantasy in our heads about what's best for us," Guillen, 34, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"In reality, the universe has a bigger plan for you that you had no idea because you weren't open to it."Guillermo has always been a control freak, Guillen acknowledged.
"He needs to clean, tidy up and have structure," he said. "He's afraid to be out of control and to let anyone else take the reins because he's afraid of what that might look like."
The fact that he doesn't work for them or live in their house anymore means he can pursue other career opportunities, too.
"We all grow as humans, and we all can aspire to take that leap of faith," he said, describing his former job with the vampires as part gopher, part therapist.
"He's no longer living inside the household and, so, there's more boundaries set," Guillen added. "He is not at their beck and call, and they forget because they've been so trained to think that he's always going to be there. ... He's done everything for them, and he has to put his foot down."
Early episodes of Season 6 see Guillermo excited to start a new job in the corporate world, doffing his signature cardigans for sharp-looking, tailored suits.
It's very short-lived that he has this experience all to himself, however, as Nadja and Nandor try to "help" Guillermo by going to work with him and killing anyone who stands in the way of his advancement.
Of course, the motives of the vampires are as self-serving as they are well-meaning.
"They're not even doing it to help support Guillermo there. It's like, 'We have to make sure he succeeds because if he doesn't, he's going to kill us,'" Guillen said.
"He's a vampire killer. It's really endearing also in a weird [expletive] up way," he added. "He loves them, but he wants boundaries, and they're not respecting those boundaries, and sometimes friends and family do that, so it's very much a mirror that we can all relate to."
Guillen gets a kick out of the way Nadja thinks she should dress for the workplace.
"It just seems like she went through old magazines and watched Working Girl and [was inspired by] business ladies from the 1980s," he said. "She watched old episodes of Dynasty where characters were glamorous and vicious."
Guillen said it is unclear whether Guillermo has a possible romantic future with Nandor now that their dynamics have changed so much.
"We are still friends and we still want to be in each other's lives. Sometimes that's the worst idea," Guillen laughed.
"Some people would argue you should never be friends with your exes, not that they are exes, but they do have that similar vibe and they do care for each other. Does it make them stronger as really close friends? The season showcases that, and so we will see if it breaks them or makes them closer."
