Harvey Guillen, best known as Guillermo on FX’s What We Do In The Shadows, the TV series based on cult classic movie, flew into New York Comic Con for a solo spotlight panel on Friday morning. And I almost literally mean flew in. The actor was shooting the first episodes of season 5 of What We Do In The Shadows in Los Angeles the night before, and as soon as shooting wrapped, hopped a red eye flight to New York City.
But there were no signs of jet lag or a lack of sleep when Harvey Guillen took the stage. He was a beaming ball of energy from the moment he took the stage. The solo spotlight panel at NYCC doubled as a recording of Guillen’s podcast, Behind the Shadows, which gives fans a behind the scenes look at What We Do In The Shadows. Unlike last year’s What We Do In the Shadows NYCC panel, today’s panel focused less on Shadows and more on Guillen’s guest, Hocus Pocus 2 actress and Guillen’s Blue Beetle co-star, Belissa Escobar. Blue Beetle is due out in August of 2023.
Harvey asked Belissa how she got into acting. She responded, “I knew I wanted to be an an actor when my friends and I would reenact episodes of Hannah Montana.” Her first official acting role was in elementary school. She explained, “My first play was in 5th grade in Willy Wonka: The Musical. I played Grandpa Joe. Harvey then went off on Grandpa Joe being bedridden and hopping out of bed when Charlie shows up with the Golden Ticket, and asked Belissa her opinion on Grandpa Joe. Belissa joked, “Yeah, 5th grade me was like what a total bum.” She then added, “After that role, everyone realized singing was not my forte.” She went on, saying “I had two singing coaches. They were like, you should go see an ear, nose and throat doctor.” Ouch! Belissa later when to a performing arts high school and credited Clown Class for her comedic and improv skills.
During the Q&A, a woman in the audience complimented Belissa on her Hocus Pocus 2 performance, saying she sounded like a real teenager. Belissa described her method as “I thought about how when I was a teenager, everything was angst.” Talking about her Hocus Pocus 2 role, Harvey Guillen told Belissa, “You’re part of history now.” To which Belissa responded, “When you put it like that, it’s scary.”
Besides interviewing Belissa Escobar, Harvey Guillen gave the audience some behind the scenes What We Do In The Shadows trivia too. He explained that the way that Laszlo (Matthew Berry) pronounces Manhattan, Manhatta, comes from learning it from the indigenous people who lived here when he first arrived. Harvey said, “He pronounces it the way you’re supposed to.” Harvey also revealed that What We Do In The Shadows has been picked up for seasons 5 and 6. They already finished filming the first quarter of season 5 and just started filming the second quarter of the season the night before Harvey flew into New York to attend NYCC.
Finally, during the Q&A, Harvey Guillen answered what was probably the most contentious question of the morning, namely “What is the best sweater.” To which he quickly and confidently replied “Sweater vest.” You heard it here first! The sweater vest is making its sartorial comeback!
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