Harvey Guillen: Slaying Vampires & Stereotypes

It has been almost three years since we first sat down with What We Do in the Shadows’ fan-favorite actor, singer, and voice-over artist Harvey Guillen. Challenging the norms of what made a star a star and what an action hero looked like, he became the media’s darling as they were able to anchor headlines on Latinx, LGBTQ, and plus size descriptives. As each interview and new role would show, Harvey is much more than the labels assigned to him. Whereas most actors sit back and enjoy the success of being in a multiple Emmy-nominated TV show, Harvey’s hustle has led to a number of notable TV appearances, action films, and voice-over projects. In the space of just a couple of years, Harvey has gone from being a fresh face in Hollywood to presenting at the Golden Globes alongside one of his co-stars, Salma Hayek, and dominating the red carpet at the Oscars. He is a verified quadruple threat – singer, actor, dancer… vampire slayer. This past season, the true picture of his success came into full view as passengers on the New York City subway were met not with one, but two, side to side, billboard ads for Harvey’s work - Comedy Central’s Cursed Friends and Dreamworks’ Puss in Boots 2. Coming up, he becomes part of the DC Universe for Blue Beetle, the first feature superhero film with a Latinx flair! He will also be seen in the adult comedy, Strays, which also features Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Sofia Vergara. If that wasn’t enough, he will also be taking part in the Kennedy Center’s production of Spamalot with Michael Urie. What can’t he do? With all of this success, he has remained humble and has become a veritable spokesperson for the LGBTQ and Latinx communities. I was miraculously able to snag some time with him in between his many projects and flights.

In this catch-up episode, we talk about his upward trajectory, staying humble and connected to his roots, creating signature looks and promoting body positivity on the red carpet, overcoming Hollywood labels, not being pigeon-holed in roles, inclusion issues within the gay community, Guillermo’s coming out on Shadows, making Latinx history in the DC Universe, booty pics, love and dating, and his biggest wish for the LGBTQ entertainment community….with host Alexander Rodriguez.

Check out his issue of Metrosource in print or read the article on Metrosource.com