Over the weekend, Harvey Guillén, who performs Guillermo de la Cruz on FX’s What We Do within the Shadows, hosted a highlight panel at New York City Comic Con, recording a stay episode of his podcast Behind the Shadows. He was joined by Hocus Pocus 2 star Belissa Escobedo, who shall be within the upcoming Blue Beetle movie alongside Guillén. As they mentioned their roles in varied initiatives, they dove deep into what makes a horror comedy, and what makes loss of life humorous.

Escobedo had a small half in American Horror Stories, a episodic anthology spinoff of the unique American Horror Story. “Ryan Murphy did me so dirty putting me in that bucket hat,” she recalled. “Initially my character was going to die, but they were like—you’re so sweet, your character is so likable, it would be too sad. And I’m like, that’s the point! I want to get my head cut off! I want to bathing in fake blood by the end of this scene. I want to be killed! I’ve been working on my screams.”

Harvey requested about how that felt—if it was a catharsis—and Escobedo stated it was all the time “good to get it out.” Guillén agreed, calling it “therapeutic.” Surprising nobody, Gullién stated that he “loves doing horror comedies.” Besides the truth that he’s one of many stars on FX’s What We Do within the Shadows, he was additionally in 2021’s Werewolves Within, and he simply launched a function on Hulu, Cursed Friends, with a fully stacked comedy solid that features Nicole Byer, Will Arnett, Kathy Griffin, and (for some purpose) NSYNC’s Joey Fatone.

As the panel went into questions, many followers requested about Shadows. Some of the pleasant moments for Shadows followers embody Guillén saying that his favourite Matt Berry pronunciations are “BaAat!” and “Nuu Yawk Citay.” (Escobedo’s was “What hath the Dark Lord wrought,” which she performed on a 10-second rewind loop.) Guillén additionally talked about that he loves when Berry pronounces Manhattan as “Manahatta,” which was, the truth is, the Lenape title for Manhattan. “So really, he was just pronouncing it the way it was originally meant to have been pronounced!” Guillén defined, completely delighted to get to share this.“Manahatta is how Laszlo would have heard it when he first arrived. Fun fact.”

Guillén additionally praised the chemistry he has on set with Kayvan Novak, who performs the vampire Nandor the Relentless, although he stated the entire solid has an unbelievable working relationship. Guillén described how on sooner or later of filming they shot 20 minutes of improv that by no means made it to the present. “Each episode is only 22 minutes,” he defined, “so you’ll never see it. They don’t release bloopers. Maybe in an aftershow one day?”

When requested who he would commerce locations with on set—solid or crew—Guillén stated, virtually instantly, that he could be the growth man. “Because you just get to hear everything. We have mics on the whole time, so you’ll be talking about something sensitive and you’ll—” Guillén covers his collar together with his hand, miming protecting a mic. Escobedo jumped in, “I heard that doesn’t work. They can just hear it all anyway.” Guillén laughed, “and that’s why you see the boom guy in the corner just staring at you.”

I used to be in attendance, and whereas I knew that the Q+A was largely for followers and never press individuals, I couldn’t assist however sneak to the again of the road. When it obtained to me, I requested about one thing that had been haunting me for 2 years. “There’s a scene in season three where you and Nandor are fighting,” I stated. “You get to the top of the coffin, yell ‘plancha!’ and then crossbody Nandor on the ground—was that improvised?”

Readers, I’m delighted to report that Guillén not solely improvised the road, but in addition satisfied the director to maintain it within the ultimate minimize. He additionally admitted to being a Lucha Libre fan, as evidenced by the plancha that Guillermo executed was a Mexican plancha, and never an American plancha—two very completely different wrestling strikes.

One of the largest subplots of season 4 was that Guillermo will get a boyfriend. He additionally comes out to his household. A fan requested about how Guillén dealt with this storyline, as a queer Latino man working in Hollywood. “It was weird. It hit close to home and it was therapeutic, in a way, but it was a little triggering.” For Guillermo, his sexuality was only one lie of many—the character’s been mendacity to his household about his job and aspirations for years. “The lies are a heavy weight. The last straw was when his chosen family—the vampires—and his biological family were about to destroy each other.” Guillén stated that it was emotional due to how accepting Guillermo’s household was. “Some people don’t get that acceptance.”

He stated he would like to see a Guillermo de la Cruz spinoff–possibly an animated present or a comic book. “But we are picked up for seasons five and six,” Guillén stated. “So who knows what will happen.”

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