Seven years after becoming a top horror star as Pennywise in “It,” Bill Skarsgård is back on the big screen playing the original movie monster, Count Orlok, in Robert Eggers’ remake of the vampire classic “Nosferatu.”
The actor has earned acclaim for his fearsome performance; but while on set and covered in layers of makeup and prosthetics, he was afraid that it wasn’t going to work.
“I was worried that I couldn’t perform through it, that it would feel like giant prosthetic pieces, and I couldn’t come alive through that,” Skarsgård told Entertainment Weekly.
Skarsgård is completely unrecognizable as the plague-spreading vampire, covered in decaying flesh with a bony face and an immense mustache. His full appearance was hidden in all of Focus Features’ marketing for “Nosferatu,” and it is not fully seen in the film itself until the moment that Thomas Hutter, played by Nicholas Hoult, realizes Orlok’s true nature.
Like any creature made from practical effects, Skarsgård had to spend hours in the makeup trailer getting large prosthetics applied all over his body, and he wasn’t sure as he put it on that he was truly going to look terrifying even with the deep Romanian-accented voice he had constructed with the help of an opera singer for the role.
“There was definitely a stage when they hadn’t put everything on, where I was like, ‘I look like the f—ing Grinch or a f—ing goblin.’ I did not like at all how it was translating.”
But by the time the process was completed and Skarsgard had fully immersed himself in the role, Eggers was blown away by the final result.
“When he was discussing the inner world of this dead sorcerer to me in detail, it was pretty frightening,” Eggers said.” And I’m up for anything, really, but I was affected by how deep he dove. So, when he snaps into character, it’s heavy, and everyone can feel it. And the makeup design is quite evocative. So, yeah, I think he was an intimidating presence — and needed to be.”
“Nosferatu” is now in theaters.
