English comic actor Matt Berry describes the level of improvisation allowed to him and the cast of the hit FX comedy “What We Do in the Shadows,” in which four vampires and a human familiar share a house in suburban Staten Island, as “very generous.” That freedom to “do the most outrageous thing,” he says, is one reason his justly admired performance as the 300-year-old bloodsucking pervert Laszlo Cravensworth earned him an Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy. It’s the first such accolade for Berry, who has also won a following in the U.S. with imported British comedies like “The IT Crowd” and “Toast of London,” a show he co-created about an arrogant actor.
But before filming an episode of “Shadows,” one of Berry’s ideas met with serious resistance from creator Jemaine Clement and executive producer Taika Waititi. “I initially offered to do a sort of Eastern European accent, which is always associated with vampires,” he recalls, then mimics the pair’s reaction — “no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no” — with a deadpan calm that slyly conveys exactly how horrified Clement and Waititi would have been to lose one of the most valuable gifts in comedy today: Berry’s epically affable, theatrical English baritone. “And so I have my own accent,” he says, adding, “thanks to the great enthusiasm of the creators.”
I must first clarify for readers that in real life I do not speak like the ghost of every British fan who gathers on stage.to a larynx. But it's not that far away either.
It doesn't sound unusual to me, because I've heard it all my life. When I was younger, it made me laugh to hear someone with a clipped accent being pompous. I would imitate it instantly. Now it's rare to hear it. Maybe from some members of the royal family, but not from the average citizen.
When you're speeding, is there anyone in particular you think of?
An actor named Jon Finch [who] He had an incredible way of speaking. Even when he was doing everyday things, it was like he was playing Shakespeare. And Tom Baker.
…Who is best known for playing Doctor Who in the '70's.
When I was a child watching [Baker]I found it terrifying because of the way it sounded. As I became an actor, I realized that a lot of it was due to the fact that he was trying to remember his lines. He would start every sentence with [affects a deeply throaty sound] “We-ee-lll…” and then he’d launch into whatever he was doing. I find that hilarious. And I find anyone who isn’t particularly self-aware hilarious.
Matt Berry says the sets in the series are “so good that you forget you’re in a warehouse in Canada. You really are in an early 20th-century mansion filled with furniture from the last 700 years.”
Laszlo certainly fits the bill. Do those flashy Victorian outfits help put you in his old, lecherous frame of mind?
It's also the sets. They're so good that you forget you're in a warehouse in Canada. You really are in an early 20th-century mansion filled with furniture from the last 700 years. Because they're vampires, they don't get rid of anything. It's so warm and cozy that you want to stay there. Because outside there's a warehouse and, you know, three feet of snow.
Is there any vampire power you would adopt?
It wouldn't be immortality. As you can see, it doesn't sound like fun. And if you suffer from a mental health problem, you'll have it forever. But they have no real interest in material things. That's what I like. They don't give a damn about the things around them or technology. That's what I envy about them.
A very human power that you have is musical ability. You have released many albums and you have been a musician for longer than you have been an actor. Did that influence your discovery?
I was playing singer-songwriter songs and, for a comedy club above a pub, I turned him into a character who was actually a serial killer who confessed in his songs what he had done. I thought it was hilarious. Matt Holness and Richard Ayoade saw me and they were looking for someone to play a doctor in the TV version of their Edinburgh show, which became Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.
That parody of 'Horror television series from the 1980s, first broadcast in the United States..K. In 2004, it became a cult comedy classic.
I'm very grateful for that every day. I've been working ever since, which is a complete and utter mystery.
What can we expect from the final season of “Shadows,” coming this October?
There are some clever things in the ending that I hope people like. I would love it if it had nothing to do with that. Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with me. The concepts, I think, are interesting, unlike seeing myself. I should make that clear.
It's funny how, being so expert at playing major narcissists, you back away from the slightest hint of self-promotion.
I suppose it's a British custom, isn't it? We don't generally like to boast about our own qualities.
