Stu

**Stu** is a young werewolf from Te Aro, Wellington. He appears in the film and its precursor short film.

## Biography

When Stu was a human, he worked as a systems analyst and became a friend of fellow human Nick after dating his sister. Nick was transformed into a vampire by Petyr and welcomed into his flat alongside Viago, Vladislav and Deacon. Nick introduced the vampires to Stu and initially used hypnosis on him to ensure that he didn’t realise they were vampires. Nick also protected Stu by asking the flatmates not to eat him, or turn him into a vampire as Stu is vegetarian. Nick eventually decided to tell Stu that he and the flatmates were vampires, which Stu took surprisingly well.

Stu helped introduce the vampires to modern technology. He taught them how to use computers to make online calls, watch videos of the sunrise, “poke” people, buy furniture and look at pictures of virgins, and use phones to take selfies and send text messages. The vampires grew very fond of Stu but became agitated by Nick, who put the group at risk by constantly revealing his vampire status to members of the public.

When Nick accidentally caused a vampire hunter to break into the flat and kill Petyr, the remaining flatmates carried out the Procession of Shame on Nick and banished him. However, they allowed Stu to visit whenever he wanted.

Shortly afterwards, Nick brought Stu to the Unholy Masquerade. Upon realising that he was the only human guest among vampires, witches and zombies, Viago and Deacon became concerned for Stu’s safety. They tried to lead him out, only for him to be confronted by the guest of honour, Pauline, who was also Vladislav’s ex-girlfriend. Vladislav arrived to defend Stu, but Stu fought back by impaling Pauline’s new boyfriend, Julian, with a wooden stake.

Viago, Vladislav, Deacon and Nick left the ball hailing Stu as a hero, but became distracted by a pack of werewolves, led by Anton, in human form. The vampires mocked them, only for the werewolves to transform as the full moon emerged and attack the group. Stu was disembowelled by the pack, leaving Nick and the other vampires devastated. Police officers O’Leary and Minogue assumed a dog caused his injuries and an ambulance was called. However as Stu was being carried in, he sprang back to life and fled the scene. He blacked out and was offered new clothes from the werewolves, back in human form, and realised he had now become a werewolf and was accepted into the pack.

Shortly afterwards, Nick brought Stu back to the flat, causing the vampires to befriend the werewolf pack and reconcile with Nick.

## Other Appearances

### *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*

Stu briefly appears in the short film as a human. Although the other characters are very different from their film counterparts, Stu's appearance and personality is unchanged and he is still a good friend of Nick.

### *Deacon's Podcast*

Stu makes multiple appearances in *Deacon's Podcast*, with Deacon frequently phoning him.

## Trivia

* Stu has a black belt in taekwondo.
* Deacon considers Stu to be his only friend.

## Behind the Scenes

* Stu’s performer, Stu Rutherford, worked as an IT technician at the time the feature-length film was being made and had no major acting experience. Taika Waititi wanted to keep his performance as natural as possible and at one point emailed him to tell him not to take any acting courses. Rutherford assumed he would only have a minor role and did not realise how much he was in the film until the premiere.

## Appearances

* *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*
* *What We Do in the Shadows*
* *Deacon's Podcast*

## References

Clement, Jemaine & Waititi, Taika (writers and directors) (19 January 2014). *What We Do in the Shadows*.
2. ↑  "Deacon's Podcast" - YouTube
3. ↑ "Deacon's Podcast, Episode 8, Dawn Riderz." - YouTube
4. ↑ "IT guy turns accidental film star" - Stuff.co.nz