“What We Do in the Shadows” has built up a strong following and critical acclaim over the course of its run and with its fourth season, which aired last summer on FX and is now hoping to be involved in this year’s Emmys, that acclaim has only increased.
Jermaine Clement adapted his and Taika Waititi‘s 2014 film of the same name to create this comedy series about four vampire roommates living in modern-day Staten Island. follows Each of the cast contributes their own comedic stylings and every fan has their favorite among Matt Berry‘s Laszlo, Kayvan Novak‘s Nandor, Natasia Demetriou‘s Nadja, and Mark Proksch‘s Colin Robinson.
Novak as Nandor has really come into his own. He has been on the hunt for true love since season three and it’s this plot line that acts as the heart of season four, too. Novak has added quiet vulnerability and a gentle sense of loneliness to his repertoire of pitch-perfect comedic abilities. This has taken Nandor to the next level. Novak always made Nandor hilarious with his well-judged accent, his exacerbations with his familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), and his pained looks to the camera, but, now, there is a sincerity and, uh, a human element to this vampire that makes us truly care about this character, while it only increases his comedic strengths, too. And critics agree.
Tony Sokol (Den of Geek) observed: “Kayvan Novak is extremely generous. So many of his best laugh lines come passively, in muted reactions and asides. All of the cast know how to work the omnipresent camera filming them, but Novak alternately winks his invitations, and muffles his conspiratorially tactful exits.”
George Chrysostomou (Screen Rant) proclaimed: “There’s no doubt that Nandor is one of the best comedy characters that Kayvan Novak has ever portrayed and indeed a force to be reckoned with on TV in general… No other actor could capture the complexities of this ancient figure quite like Kayvan Novak and it’s likely the character that he will be most well known for.”
Brian Tallerico (The Playlist) wrote: “The remarkably consistent Novak is the MVP of the first four episodes of this season, once again finding a river of melancholy in his lovable idiot bloodsucker.”
But while critics and audiences are falling increasingly in love with Novak and Nandor, Emmy voters have yet to swoon. But that could change this year. Novak earned a bid last year for Best Comedy Actor at the Critics Choice Awards, proving that awards bodies do indeed like him. Plus, he won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Series in 2008 for his British sketch show “Fonejacker” and earned a nomination in the same category in 2011 for the follow-up series “Facejacker.” That’s two major organizations that respect Novak’s work as a comic, while the Critics Choice bid came last year, so the admiration is, crucially, recent.
Currently, however, Novak lies outside of our predicted six nominees for Best Comedy Actor: Jason Segel (“Shrinking”), Martin Short and Steve Martin (both “Only Murders in the Building”), Bill Hader (“Barry”), Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”), and Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”).
There is a little wiggle room there, however. In the last five years, only seven of 29 nominees in this category have earned bids for the debut seasons of their shows. They were: Hader for “Barry” in 2018 (winner), Don Cheadle for “Black Monday” in 2019, Michael Douglas for “The Kominsky Method” in 2019, Sudekis for “Ted Lasso” in 2021 (winner), Kenan Thompson for “Kenan” in 2021, and Martin and Short for “Only Murders in the Building” in 2022. That puts Segel, who is up for the first season of Apple TV+’s “Shrinking” on shaking ground, so Novak could benefit there.
However, Novak’s co-star Berry could also benefit from that. They are both competing against each other, which could hinder their chances — although Martin and Short both got in last year for “Only Murders in the Building” so the precedence is there.
What does give Novak the edge though is that aforementioned storyline — his character really does come across as the heart of the series as he searches for love and voters may really be hooked on that. It’s another side of Nandor we haven’t seen. Novak has also been seen in some major movies of late, too, including “Cruella” and “Men In Black: International” — these don’t affect his performance in “What We Do in the Shadows,” obviously, but that star factor and recognisability certainly boosts his chances of sticking in Emmy voters heads. He was also in “Paddington” — and who the hell doesn’t love “Paddington?”
The show itself has a healthy Emmys history, amassing 17 bids over its three prior seasons including two Best Comedy Series nominations. The first came in 2020 when it lost to “Schitt’s Creek,” and the second came in 2022 when it fell to “Ted Lasso.” The show won Best
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
