“But I have to say, I’ve never been more terrified of a role and probably won’t be again. The whole journey was so intense. Once you start channelling something that’s not you, you feel like a vessel. And you can go entire movies where that doesn’t happen at all or it happens in moments, but that’s always what you’re striving towards. In that moment, the doors are open and it’s flowing through me. I’ve never prepared this hard for anything before either. But once we started shooting, Orlok was very formed and he started to flow. I could connect and dial up to wherever Orlok was and he would come through. It was an intense ride.” — Bill on playing in Nosferatu [x]
Director Robert Eggers and actor Bill Skarsgård discuss the creation of Count Orlok and their experience filming Nosfertu with Another Mag.
Rober Eggers: I distinctly remember that it was the second on-camera make-up test in full costume. I said to everyone nearby, “He’s Orlok now. He’s found it. It’s there.”
Bill Skarsgård: But I have to say, I’ve never been more terrified of a role and probably won’t be again. The whole journey was so intense. Once you start channelling something that’s not you, you feel like a vessel. And you can go entire movies where that doesn’t happen at all or it happens in moments, but that’s always what you’re striving towards. In that moment, the doors are open and it’s flowing through me. I’ve never prepared this hard for anything before either. But once we started shooting, Orlok was very formed and he started to flow. I could connect and dial up to wherever Orlok was and he would come through. It was an intense ride.
So this interview with Bill Skarsgard and Robert Eggers about Nosferatu is really good, lots of good stuff about how the film was made and all that. And I let out a huge sigh of relief when I read that Bill had said this:
(Ellen's) the source of Orlok’s twisted obsession. And of course it’s not love, but an addiction of sorts.
Their dynamic won't be the typical beautiful and tragic fairy-tale romance we've seen too many times with Mina and Dracula (I mean, Nosferatu was the OG Dracula fanfiction movie) - good!
Bill later continued with:
In this movie, what clicked for me was that it’s Ellen’s story. She’s stuck between benevolent love and a very destructive force. I represent the destructive force and she’s repelled but at the same time attracted to it. That felt very human. You could swap Orlok for addiction or abusive relationships. He’s this force you’re drawn towards. You don’t know why, but you are – and you know it’s certain destruction.
I think this is an interesting concept to explore. Fingers crossed the execution is good (please do not send me the alleged leaked script)