Most moviegoers’ first impression of Bill Skarsgård came courtesy of his performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in 2017’s It and its 2019 sequel. He’s , yeah, but he also has the ability to twist his charisma into something dark and terrifying. That’s been a recurring motif in the characters he’s played so far, and it sounds like Nosferatu might raise the bar even more.
In a new interview with in which he talks about two upcoming movies in which he plays an undead character— , out June 7, is the other one—Skarsgård says becoming Nosferatu’s title vampire presented some unique challenges. The film, directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman), reimagines the 1922 silent classic of the same name, itself a riff on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Skarsgård has been friends with Eggers since 2015 and was actually considered for multiple different roles in Nosferatu as the long-in-the-works project shuffled toward production.
But then Eggers decided Skarsgård could make a perfect Count Orlock, despite initial worries he might be too young for the part. According to the magazine, “Skarsgård read for the role multiple times. By self-tape.
Over Zoom. In the studio with his hair slicked back and fake nails glued on. He tested out voices and sent them over piecemeal in voice notes.
He did one makeup test, and then another.” At last, Eggers told Esquire, “I was like, ‘He’s become the character.’ It was eerie to see in the footage.
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