In 2014 New Zealand writers, directors and actors Jemaine Clement And Taika Waititi released What are we doing in the shadows, a whimsical mockumentary about a group of vampires living in the same apartment. Bye What are we doing in the shadows was not the first film in any director’s career, the mockumentary may have earned Waititi his Hollywood status as one of the best acting comedy directors. The name is well-deserved, as Waititi proved that the MCU can be really fun, aside from one-liners. Thor: Ragnarokand even found clever ways to laugh at the Holocaust with jojo rabbit. However, after almost two decades of writing and directing, Waititi has never surpassed what he managed to create with Clement in What are we doing in the shadows. That’s because the fan-favorite mockumentary had a trump card like no other: Stu RutherfordIT specialist.
In What We Do in the Shadows, Stew goes from IT guy to superstar
By the time Waititi and Clement decided to turn their 2005 short film into a full-length feature, Rutherford had already discovered his passion for cinema. However, Rutherford’s experience was limited to small roles in independent films, including the original What are we doing in the shadows. So when Waititi and Clement cast Rutherford on their ambitious mockumentary project, the actor didn’t expect to be onscreen for more than a few seconds. Rutherford only assumed that he would appear for a couple of scenes, even more, since the filmmakers told the IT guy that he was needed to work with computers on the set.
Anyone who has looked What are we doing in the shadows knows that one of the main characters in the film is Stu, a human friend of the vampires who helps them figure out digital technology and just stands there while the action takes place. Well, Stu the character is actually Stu the actor. And it’s no coincidence that both characters are IT people, as Rutherford was the victim of one of the most brilliant behind-the-scenes jokes ever made in the history of cinema.
In an interview with New Zealand’s Stuff, Rutherford explains that he had little hope for his role in What are we doing in the shadows. As he put it, “I assumed I’d be in it a little more [than the short film] “If you take a 20-minute short and expand it to one hour and 30 minutes and you’ve been within 10 seconds, you would expect to work maybe 40 seconds.” However, Waititi and Clement wrote that the character of Stew would be the heart of the mockumentary, a person the audience can connect with. They simply chose not to tell Rutherford of their plan. According to Clement, “When we wrote the script and made it a big part of it, we let him think he was going to be our IT and told him he wouldn’t be around for long. Every day he asked: “Well, when can I help with computers?”; and we were like, “Oh, put on that suit first.” Since we almost silenced him, I think the whole time he thinks he’s just being laughed at.”
Lest anyone spoil the surprise, Clement and Waititi refused to let the other actors read the full script of the film. What are we doing in the shadows. So more often than not, Rutherford was simply asked to stand in the scene without having the slightest idea of what was expected of him, and simply asked to react to what one of the vampires said to him. Besides, What are we doing in the shadowsThe actors were warned that Rutherford didn’t know what would happen in each scene, so they should just use whatever improvisation the IT guy came up with.
Until they had to shoot the final scene in which Stu becomes a werewolf, Waititi and Clement barely directed Rutherford. And since the filmmakers filmed over 120 hours, there was simply no way for Rutherford to realize that the whole story was about Stu. It wasn’t until the movie premiered that the IT guy realized that Clement and Waititi had turned him into a superstar.
Stew is the heart of “What We Do in the Shadows”
While Waititi’s career is mostly made up of obvious hits, What are we doing in the shadows remains the most revised entry in his filmography thanks to Stu. There’s something special about looking at Stew’s blank face while the poor guy tries to figure out what’s going on in this scene. Knowing that this was Rutherford’s reaction since he didn’t have any script to guide him just adds to the fun of it all. Fiction can never surpass reality with regards to surreal stories, such as the unexpected way Waititi and Clement decide to deal with Stu.
Stew’s awkward presence on set also helps us laugh at the same vampire jokes over and over again. Waititi and Clement know how to make comedies, but the real climax of almost everyone What are we doing in the shadows the scene lies in the absurdity of the situations in which the vampire flatmates get involved. And since Rutherford didn’t know what Clement and Waititi were trying to do, he just stood there, puzzled, not knowing how to react. For this reason, while What are we doing in the shadows may be mockumentary, the film also documents the real-life reaction of an actor who was simply repeatedly thrown onto the set without instructions on what to do. And it’s impossible to keep a straight face while watching Rutherford’s eyes ask what the hell he’s doing on set.
While Waititi’s later productions are great on their own, working on big-budget projects puts some limits on creativity. For example, Thor: Love and Thunder showed how Marvel Studios’ over-micromanagement of its sprawling franchise can hurt a director’s comedy. And even in more auteur films such as jojo rabbitthere’s not a lot of room for experimentation as every day on set costs a lot more and there’s simply no room to shoot 120 hours of footage that will basically be thrown away. What are we doing in the shadowsand what Waititi and Clement did to Stew is still the funniest thing they’ve ever done.
Rutherford worked with Waititi again in Thor: Ragnarokhelping with the technical work behind the screens. But we want the star to return to her acting career. Let’s hope we see Rutherford and Waititi join forces again in the near future.
Source: Collider
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