Harvey Guillén

In Companion (2025), Harvey Guillén’s Eli seems kind, comfortable and aware that he may soon need courage he has never had to find before. We warmed to him because Guillén lets that apprehension sit alongside the friendliness, without making either seem put on. Drew Hancock surrounds him with less agreeable people, and Guillén makes the kindness count. Alongside Lukas Gage’s sweet, distracted Patrick, he gives us someone worth watching beyond the next threat. This is where we rate him: making a supporting character matter without insisting on our attention.

After smaller television parts, including Huge (2010), his break came as Guillermo de la Cruz, the human familiar in What We Do in the Shadows (2019–2024). The series gave his comic timing and warmth a sustained place in an ensemble, with physical comedy and action alongside them. Voice work then became another substantial part of his career, including Perrito in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). A part that only asks him to smile and be helpful would waste much of what he can do.

Wish (2023) is a frustrating example of how little a recognisable voice can be given to do. Guillén voices Gabo, whose grumbling is the one thing that registers among Asha’s otherwise thinly drawn friends. That is a small success in a film too busy nodding towards other films to give its own characters much life. His Dr. Sanchez in Ángel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle (2023) belongs to another uneven film: we liked the Reyes family, but the superhero plot was standard issue.

Companion gives him more to work with, even if Hancock keeps repeating points about men like Josh that were clear in the first half hour. We would welcome more parts that let Guillén be frightened, impatient or difficult, rather than simply agreeable. For a sense of what he can bring to an evening beyond laughs, start with Eli.