On What We Do in the Shadows, Nandor is probably the goofiest of the vampires—even if he doesn’t realize it, since he has a complete lack of self-awareness at all times. io9 got a chance to talk to Kayvan Novak about what’s in store for season six, including Nandor’s ever-conflicted relationship with his former familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), and an episode where he briefly thinks he’s an infamous former American president.
Cheryl Eddy, io9: Did you already do a Richard Nixon impression or did you have to develop that for the show?
Kayvan Novak: I didn’t. I was aware of Richard Nixon, but I guess the movie Good Morning Vietnam was really [where I got most of my awareness] of him and his character and people making fun of him. Robin Williams does an impression of him and he cuts that interview up to make him sound ridiculous. But I was given many YouTube videos of Richard Nixon to study and I didn’t do any of it. I just turned up on the day and did an impression. I did a little bit of homework. I was apprehensive. I was nervous. To be honest, it didn’t make sense as to why Nandor would be able to do a Richard Nixon impression even if he’d been hypnotized. But no one listens to me. So I just went and did it anyway.
io9: Nandor has a crisis when Jerry, the long-slumbering roommate who makes a sudden return, points out how far he’s fallen from being “Nandor the Relentless.” What do you think happened over those 50 years to make his personality shift so much? Was it Jerry’s absence or something else?
Novak: I guess living in Staten Island, doing less pillaging and massacring, probably has softened his edges a little bit, you know, thinking maybe there’s something else that he is missing in his life. The influence of Guillermo probably made him see things a different way because he secretly cares about this familiar, this human being, that he kind of pretends he doesn’t care about. I think 700 years of life would do that to someone.
io9: I’m glad you mentioned Guillermo, because he and Nandor (“Nandermo” to shippers) are in an odd place when the season begins. As we see, Guillermo has tried to set some new boundaries. How would you describe Nandor’s headspace about where they’re at after the events of season five?
Novak: [Guillermo] doesn’t really need Nandor anymore because he doesn’t want to be a vampire anymore. That was Nandor’s leverage on him, and now that’s gone. Nandor’s kind of been dumped, really—and I think without letting on that he gives a shit, he clearly gives a shit and acts accordingly. So really that’s his motivation, I’d say, is kind of fucking with Guillermo, even though Guillermo doesn’t really want anything to do with him.
io9: Nandor and Nadja have had this running competition between them throughout the show—they both see themselves as having more authority than the other. What do you think were the origins of that?
Novak: It feels like a sibling rivalry, to be honest. When I’m doing those scenes, it’s like I’m bickering with my sister; it’s got that kind of vibe to it. I like that. There’s a kind of disrespect and a disdain that we both have for each other, but we still kind of want to achieve our goal together, you know? I really enjoyed that actually, because we kind of hinted on that in previous seasons, but this season, the vibe felt really high energy and farcical with me and Natasia [Demetriou, who plays Nadja]. I did really enjoy that.
io9: What character trait about Nandor would you say you enjoy the most, or that you enjoyed playing the most?
Novak: Indecisiveness—in a world where making decisions is important. And when [Nandor] did [make a decision], making the wrong decisions is always a joy to play. A real holiday from being a grown up.
io9: Did you keep anything from the set?
Novak: I grabbed the portrait of Nandor from the opening credits.
io9: Nice. You have it hanging in your house?
Novak: I do.
What We Do in the Shadows season six premieres October 21 with the first three episodes on FX; you can stream them the next day on Hulu.
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