Sofia Coppola’s ‘What We Do in The Shadows’ Cameo Is One of the Goriest

The Big Picture

• The What We Do in the Shadows TV show surpasses the quality of the popular movie and innovates with constant big-name celebrity cameos.
• Sofia Coppola’s hilarious and gory cameo in Season 4 is a standout moment, showcasing the show’s comedic brilliance.
• The show’s meta approach to celebrity cameos, in which actors play themselves, elevates the comedy and sets What We Do in the Shadows out from the rest.

What We Do in the Shadows is a media rarity in that it’s a TV show version of a popular movie that not only lives up to the source material’s quality, but surpasses it. Whereas the film of the same name followed Taika Waititi’s clan of vampires who were trying to have a semi-normal life in New Zealand, the FX series follows a different set of blood-sucking idiots in Staten Island, all while using the movie’s characteristic mockumentary style. Part of the series’ innovations on the formula is the constant parade of big-name cameos, either who play new characters or versions of themselves. The show has seen a variety of celebrities from Fred Armisen to Mark Hamill, but one that stands out as one of the funniest and goriest is Sofia Coppola. The director is rarely seen in front of the camera, but apparently What We Do in the Shadows is a phenomenon that’s worth adding to anyone’s filmography.

Sofia Coppola’s ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Cameo Is as Funny as It Is Gory

In Season 4 of What We Do In The Shadows, Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) opens a nightclub that quickly becomes a sensation among vampires and humans alike, thanks to Baby Colin’s (Mark Proksch) comedy act. And while the nightclub storyline provides enough material to keep things hilarious, such as vampire bureaucracy, ghoul employees unionizing, and Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) stealing profits to help his family, it’s the random yet strategic celebrity cameos that helps prove why the series is one of the best comedies out there. In Season 4 Episode 9’s “Freddie,” a cold open sees Coppola attending Nadja’s nightclub along with director Jim Jarmusch and Phoenix’s frontman Thomas Mars (the latter of whom is Coppola’s husband in real life). When Coppola and Mars ask what the $5,000-dollar celebrity special is, Nadja gets ahead and shows them what it consists of.

Two excited vampires are summoned, biting the unaware couple, draining their blood while messily splashing everyone around, with both of them dying instantly. An amused Jarmusch watches as an ecstatic crowd chants “do the head!” and Coppola has – wait for it – her head removed entirely and played with by the bar’s customers. In less than two minutes, the cold open delivers laughs, gore, and even a smart social commentary on the excessive spending of celebrities just to be “in.” When Jarmusch declines the celebrity special saying he “doesn’t make that kind of money,” Nadja gives him a judgmental “oh” that sounds more like an “ew.” Beyond the playful goriness, the scene also allows for hysterical exchanges, like Nadja calling Coppola a “stupid bitch” and saying Mars has brain scramble after he speaks French to her.

Director Sofia Coppola Is Rarely in Front of the Camera

Every cameo on What We Do in the Shadows leaves you wondering, “How the heck did they get this person to appear on the show?” That being said, Sofia Coppola’s is probably the most random and baffling, especially since the Marie Antoinette director doesn’t appear in projects often at all. Having not only her, but also her husband Mars and fellow filmmaker Jarmusch must’ve been quite a challenge. In an interview with IndieWire, showrunner Paul Simms simply states that they “got lucky,” as Coppola and Mars are big fans of the show. Still, Coppola – not feeling too secure with her acting – suggested having a third person (specifically Jarmusch) involved. It’s a genius move, considering Jarmusch is familiar with the genre, having directed the moody vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive and the zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die.

Coppola appearing on the screen is no small feat. Her acting credits, which started as small roles in her father Francis Ford Coppola‘s films, including the infamous The Godfather Part III, largely stopped after a small cameo in her brother Roman Coppola’s 2001 directing debut CQ. Her short acting filmography also includes a cameo in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as Saché, one of Padmé’s (Natalie Portman) handmaidens along with Keira Knightley. Mars’ appearance marks his second cameo after having a small role as a talented cook who has the gift of a singing voice in the Coppola-directed Bill Murray Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas.

‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Cameos Are at Their Best When Actors Play Themselves

Going meta is what makes What We Do In The Shadows’ cameos stand out. Season 5 featured John Slattery in a very public incident when he ran over Colin’s foot, attracting the attention of Mad Men fans who cared much more about bumping into the star than they did helping Colin. Later, the Season 5 finale has Nandor hilariously mistaking Patton Oswalt for Guillermo at a Panera Bread. After having a chat at the restaurant, Nandor’s no longer has a use for Oswalt, and he throws him off a building.

These are the most recent celebrity cameos of the show, but it’s the Season 1 Vampiric Council that established these fun appearances as one of the show’s main attractions. After the eons-old vampire known as The Baron (Doug Jones) is accidentally killed by Guillermo, a mysterious Vampiric Council summons Nadja, Nandor, and Laszlo (Matt Berry) to be judged at trial. The council is made up of actors who have played famous vampires across different franchises, and that’s how we get Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Trejo, Wesley Snipes, the late Paul Reubens, and Tilda Swinton in “The Trial,” with all of them playing fictionalized versions of themselves. The star-studded council was all Swinton’s idea, with all of them styled after the vampiric roles they played in the past. Swinton herself is fashioned as Eve from Jarmusch’s (everything is connected!) Only Lovers Left Alive. Putting these artists in the show as actors who play vampires, who are indeed secretly vampires, is peak horror comedy.

Coppola’s cameo as herself in What We Do in the Shadows proves two things: that the show can and should last forever and that no matter what Coppola thinks of her acting, she can certainly embrace being the center of the joke. The show not only managed to get her in front of the camera after a lengthy hiatus, but also showed us a looser side of herself. Here’s to hoping there’s a way she could’ve survived this bloody attack and return as a vampire to cast Nadja in a film that allows her to show her bling ring.

What We Do in the Shadows is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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