Character movement study: Taika Waititi as Viago

After last week’s post, I needed something upbeat and delightful. 

While working the other day, I had my Spotify music on shuffle, and You’re Dead by Norma Tanega began playing. Though it was released in 1966, it’s gained new popularity with the mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows. 

I immediately knew then that Viago, played by Taika Waititi, would be an excellent addition to my character movement studies.

The film details the events of a documentary crew that follow four vampires, Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr, in their flat near Wellington, New Zealand. 

As might be expected, hijinx ensue.

It’s absolutely delightful. From vampire feeding accidents, flatmate disagreements, creative chase sequences mixed with quirky, quick wits. The list of its charms goes on and on.

From the creative minds of Taiki Waititi and Jemaine Clement, released in 2014, the film has since spawned an incredible spin-off series of the same name that is releasing its third season in September. 

I’ve no clue if Taika used Labanotation to help him develop Viago. So this post is simply me analyzing his performance from a Laban character movement perspective. 

Movement clue

Before diving into Labanotation specifically, I wanted to mention a significant clue in the script that indicates Viago’s movement. We hear it from his fellow vampire flatmate, Vladislav.

Vladislav states in an interview: 

“He’s an 18^th Century dandy, so he can be very fussy.”

This is an excellent reminder that frequently, as actors, we can gain a lot of knowledge about the characters we play by what other characters say about ours.

So, a quick history lesson on the term dandy.

Merriam-webster dictionary states that dandy is: 1: a man who gives exaggerated attention to personal appearance. Or 2: something excellent in its class.

The term became popular in the late 18^th century and into the majority of the 19th. Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, and Salvador Dali are some great examples of dandies. 

“A Dandy is a clothes-wearing Man, a Man whose trade, office and existence consists in the wearing of Clothes. Every faculty of his soul, spirit, purse, and person is heroically consecrated to this one object, the wearing of Clothes wisely and well: so that the others dress to live, he lives to dress.” Thomas Carlyle, ‘The Dandiacal Body,’ in Sartor Resartus.

So, Viago, being an 18th-century dandy in and of itself, is going to inform his movement signature. 

His attention to detail of his appearance, which he needs to be tidy, also extends to his environment. 

There’s a deep love he has for frilly collars and sleeves, cravats, jewelry. Oh, and his romantic nature, of course.

To me, this also indicates a lightness in the way he moves. There’s a quirky grace to him that is simply precious and a joy to watch.

Alright, onto Labanotation character movement breakdown!

(If you’re not familiar with Labanotation or how actors can use this incredible dance notation tool to create characters physically from the ground up, check out this post! It’ll help you better understand the rest of this post ;))

Viago movement signature

In delving into his quirky grace, there is a delicate way he engages with objects. A foundational block of his movement signature is: light. 

His movements don’t seem to require a lot of effort, and even when he’s upset, there’s very little tension about how he moves. 

This is especially true when comparing him to both Vladislav and Deacon, who I would both say operate more with heavy/strong vs. light when looking at the category of weight.

Along with this, looking at the Laban category of flow, Viago defaults to the free side of the spectrum. 

Free with an undercurrent of sustained because his movements tend to linger slightly.

Lastly, the final core Laban building block I would express here is indirect. There’s a meandering energy to him, even avoidance or hesitancy.

A moment that comes to mind is when he’s hypnotizing the cops. The way he waves his hand, although it’s directed towards them, there is an indirect way he does it, as though he knows hypnotism isn’t a strong skill, and his insecurity and worries seep out in the way he moves. 

So, what we have as Viago’s default movement signature is light, free, sustained, and indirect.

Of course, there are moments where he doesn’t follow these blocks.

Such as when he is outside the window of his lady love. Though still light and sustained, his movements are very direct. 

Viago interacts physically with the world around him and also helps to amplify the others’ physical characteristics and movement signatures. For example, both Vladislav and Deacon, specifically by default, are more sudden, heavy, and incredibly direct.

18th century dandy for the win

Overall, Viago is delightful fun to watch move as Taika Waititi frankly always is. 

Full stop 🙂

Here’s to all the dandy vampires out there!