Matt Berry

9th August 2022

Matt Berry asks himself a very simple question before choosing which projects he wants to do. Is it funny? That’s it. It’is probably the reason why the British actor-comedian is rarely seen in any role that isn’t hilarious, or at least mostly funny and kind of odd. That’s Matt’s signature. Matt has starred in a bunch of comedy shows over the years, his most recent being the hit series What We Do In The Shadows. It’s a mockumentary about vampires based on the 2014 movie of the same name. The show is now well into its fourth season, and it keeps on getting better. When we last had Matt on Bullseye, he talked with us about the best part of playing a vampire, where he got the inspiration for his Toast of London character, how writing songs from the perspective of a serial killer really boosted his career and more.

Episode notes

(Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images)

Matt Berry on “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Toast of London” and more

Matt Berry asks himself a very simple question before choosing which projects he wants to do. Is it funny? That’s it. It’s probably the reason why the British actor-comedian is rarely seen in any role that isn’t hilarious, or at least mostly funny and kind of odd. That’s Matt’s signature. 

Matt has starred in a bunch of comedy shows including The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, and these days he’s in the hit series What We Do In The Shadows.

What We Do In The Shadows is a mockumentary about vampires. It’s based on the 2014 movie of the same name. When Matt joined us on Bullseye in 2020, What We Do In The Shadows had just kicked off its third season. The show is now well into number four, and it keeps getting better.

There are four vampires in What We Do in the Shadows. They all share a big house on Staten Island in New York. They suck blood from victims and mostly wear cool, spooky, fancy clothes. But they are not cool vampires. They are vain, dumb, self sabotaging goofs.And maybe the goofiest vampire of them all is Laszlo Cravensworth, played by our guest Matt Berry.

When we last had Matt on Bullseye, he talked with us about the best part of playing a vampire, where he got the inspiration for his Toast of London character, how writing songs from the perspective of a serial killer really boosted his career and more.

All four seasons of What We Do in the Shadows are currently streaming now on Hulu.

This episode originally aired in 2020.

In this episode...

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Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow

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  • Matt Berry

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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Maximum Fun Production Fellow

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