It was like conjuring pure evil.
Bill Skarsgardis haunted by one of his scariest characters.
In aninterview withEsquire, theItactor teased his upcoming role inRobert Eggers remake of the silent horror classicNosferatu.
Bill Skarsgard.Dia Dipasupil/Getty
The film will star Skarsgard as Count Orlok, the vampire antagonist originally played by Max Schreck in F.W.
Murnaus unauthorizedDraculaadaptation in 1922.
It took its toll, he said of the character.
Max Schreck as Count Orlok in 1922’s ‘Nosferatu’.Everett
It was like conjuring pure evil.
It took a while for me to shake off the demon that had been conjured inside of me.
I do not think people are gonna recognize me in it, he said.
Hes gross… but it is very sexualized.
Its playing with a sexual fetish about the power of the monster and what that appeal has to you.
Hopefully youll get a little bit attracted by it and disgusted by your attraction at the same time.
Somewhere in that second makeup test, I was like, Hes become the character.
It was eerie to see in the footage.
Anything he did, anywhere he turned or looked, you were like, Hes got it.
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When Eggers didnt cast Skarsgard in the role, he offered the actor the protagonist Thomas Hutter.
The project then fell apart, and when it re-materialized,Nicholas Houlthad been cast as Hutter.
I think the title was likeWisborg in Flamesor something.
I was just desperate to rekindle this thing and be a part of it.
Eventually, Eggers shifted his vision for Orlok and offered Skarsgard the part.
But he wouldnt disclose what he was shooting there.
I dont want to spoil it, he toldEsquire.
Nosferatuhis theaters Christmas Day.
