WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What We Do in the Shadows Season 3, Episode 1, “The Prisoner,” now available on Hulu via FX.
In the Season 3 premiere of What We Do in the Shadows, the Staten Island vampires are invited to be members of the Vampiric Council after Guillermo took out a majority of the vampires in attendance for the main characters’ execution last season. Initially, they thought this would put them more at risk with the grander scope of the Vampiric Council; however, impressed by how they killed so many of the vampires in the New York area, Viago, from the original film, deems them worthy to be the new Vampiric Council of this corner of the world.
As for the other Councils across the Earth, a handful of their leaders are actors who’ve portrayed some of the most iconic vampires in pop culture, as will be covered below.
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive
Starting off with the leader of the Vampiric Council at large, Tilda Swinton portrayed one of the main characters in Only Lovers Left Alive, acting alongside her co-star Tom Hiddleston, who was also portraying a vampire. This film is a love story between Swinton’s Eve and Hiddleston’s Adam, who is trying to find purpose again in this immortal life. The two have been together for centuries, and while they navigate their interpersonal issues, things get complicated when Eve’s sister, Ava (Mia Wasikowska), arrives. While this is the actor Swinton, not Eve, her appearance on the Vampiric Council still resembles that of her fictional character.
Wesley Snipes – Blade
This is not the first time Blade has come up in this property, as Viago tried to dress up like the titular Daywalker for the Unholy Masquerade, which his roommates saw as distasteful since he was a vampire killer. Turns out, Snipes in this universe is also a vampire killer and a half-vampire. He skypes into the Council meeting, and most of the vampires are not happy about him being there because he is a slayer. It doesn’t help that he’s sitting in a room with sunlight, showing off how he is unlike other vampires. This also means some of the rules from other vampire films and shows may apply to certain characters here.
Paul Reubens – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
While the Vampiric Council could’ve featured one of the actors from the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they instead recruited an actor from the original film of the same name, which came out in 1992. Paul Reubens played the vampire Amilyn in this movie about a teen girl learning its her destiny to fight vampires like him. Similar to Swinton, Reubens, well-known for his role as Pee Wee Herman, appears as he does in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Danny Trejo – From Dusk Till Dawn
From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino, is about two criminals hiding out in a bar, but to their dismay, this is actually a den for vampires. There a handful of vampires here, including Danny Trejo’s Razor Charlie. He is the bartender of the den and shows off a chest covered in tattoos, much like Trejo does while on the Vampiric Council.
Evan Rachel Wood – True Blood
During the mid 2000s to early 2010s, there was a boom in vampire narratives, as seen by the numerous books, films and television shows. True Blood, which was based on the book of the same name, is one of the shows, geared more toward older audiences than something like Vampire Diaries, another vampire romance popular during this era. In this world, vampires are part of society, prompting a string of new conflicts to explore on top of the central romance. One vampire is Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. Given how the credentials and reputations of their fictional characters seem to carry over to their status in the Vampiric Council, it’s unsurprising Evan Rachel Wood is included.
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt – Interview With the Vampire
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise teamed up for Interview With the Vampire, and since then, their reputations and film catalogues have continued to grow impressively. In fact, they are such big deals in the world of What We Do in the Shadows that they do not even show up to the meeting, which aggravates some of the other attendants, even though this is supposedly because of scheduling conflicts. In Interview With the Vampire, Cruise’s Lestat turns Pitt’s Louis into a vampire, and the film documents their relationship over the many years.
Kiefer Sutherland – The Lost Boys
Another no show is Kiefer Sutherland; although, it appears he at least wanted to be here, but couldn’t. Sutherland was one of several vampires in The Lost Boys. He plays a major role in the film, and it was believed he was the head vampire; however, that title actually goes to Max Lawrence. Despite this, Sutherland is the one invited onto the Vampiric Council, putting him in a higher position than his film counterpart.
Robert Pattinson – Twilight
Twilight was one of the major franchises of the mid-late 2000s, starting as a book and spawning a five-picture saga. It chronicled the romance between Bella, a teenage girl, and Edward, a vampire who goes to the same school. Edward was portrayed by Robert Pattinson, but since then, the actor has developed a diverse film catalogue, being featured in indie films, as well as mainstream movies, including the upcoming The Batman. It’s only implied that he is part of the Council, as the other members remark how Rob is not here because he is trying to distance himself from all of this, but it’s likely they’re talking about Pattinson, especially since Twilight was another work of vampire fiction referenced in the original What We Do in the Shadows.
BONUS: Deacon, Vladislav and Viago – What We Do in the Shadows
Where the other vampires on the council are actors who’ve portrayed fictional vampires in film and television, Deacon, Vladislav and Viago, who were in the original What We Do in the Shadows, are the characters from the film, not their respective actors — Jonny Brugh, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. This is because that film and the FX television show share a universe, whereas the other films and television shows mentioned above are still works of fiction in this world, so those characters cannot exist, but the actors can.
While these are the key leaders of the Vampiric Council, the New York branch features Nadja, Lazlo, Nandoor and Collin Robinson, and to see how they progress in these new roles, new episodes of What We Do in the Shadows air Thursdays 10/9c p.m on FX.
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