How Bill Skarsgard Transformed Into ‘Nosferatu’s Count Orlok

Bill Skarsgard isn’t new to the world of prosthetics in film — we all remember his horrifying turn as Pennywise in It. In Robert Eggers’ reimagining of the classic Nosferatu, the Swedish actor was back in the makeup chair, ready to be transformed into the title character, also known as Count Orlok. 

“Bill’s really tall, and he’s very slim and charming and a real kind of fun guy, and he’s got this lovely, warm personality,” prosthetic lead David White tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I remember during the first makeup session, as we’re putting this makeup on, this sweet, charming young guy began to disappear and somebody else was coming in. He transformed within the space of four hours into this very dark character.” 

White always begins his prosthetics work by hanging onto one aspect of the actor’s face. In Skarsgard’s case, it was his big eyes and “fantastic” bone structure. Around 10 prosthetics pieces were used on his face and head alone, with the body prosthetics taking the count up to 60. Sixteen people applied the pieces at a time. “It’s a bit like a pit stop in a car race,” says White. “They know exactly how to change those tires really, really fast.” 

The actor was in the chair for four hours just for his head and hands. Given his experience with prosthetics, Skarsgard has learned tricks to deal with the amount of time in the chair, White says; the actor goes into “a meditation world” to preserve his energy and save it for the performance onscreen. 

When the first trailer dropped, many fans were quick to point out how Orlok’s mustache and hair deviated from the character’s appearance in the original 1922 Nosferatu, which was based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. White admits that Orlok’s look in Eggers’ iteration is “quite unusual” but says there’s a reason that choice was made. 

“Robert would hand over these illustrations and things he found from the 16th century about these noblemen at the time, and they all had those mustaches,” he explains. “It’s highly likely that any nobleman would have had a mustache like that, even Orlok.” In terms of Orlok’s hair, White also stuck with the period in which the film was set: “You see that kind of look throughout that part of the world, and he wouldn’t stand out. When he’s in his sarcophagus, Robert was very insistent that he wants his hair all flat and matted, full of muck and dirt, and when he’s out and about, it’s a little bit more full and rich and elegant.” 

For much of the movie, we see only Orlok’s silhouette or see him rising from the shadows. That also factored into the way White worked. “During the sculpt, my key sculptor, Colin Jackman, and I were very careful because Robert had mentioned that he’s going to shoot him not only in low light, but he didn’t want to reveal the decay and rot that was coming from the back of his head forward. On the one hand, you’ve got to sell him as this normal guy who is maybe a little eccentric, but on the other hand, he’s actually falling apart.” Keeping that in mind, White set up lights during the sculpt to gauge how far he could go with the prosthetics, and lots of camera tests were done to ensure nothing was revealed too soon. 

Makeup head Traci Loader also used lighting to get her technique just right, especially given the film’s tinting — the movie was shot in color in 35mm but was desaturated to make it look like the action was taking place in the constant pale glow of moonlight. “I also did The Lighthouse and The Witch, so I’m familiar with [cinematographer] Jarin Blaschke’s lighting,” she tells THR. “I have lights in the trailer that I put gels on to complement his lighting so that I know that I am going in the right direction. For black and white, you have to be careful with your reds and purples — anything that has blue in it, you have to alter it. So with candlelight, any yellows or reds you use can’t be orange-based; they have to be blue-based. Otherwise it’s not going to read. So there’s a lot of color theory involved.” 

Color theory also applied in Loader’s work on Lily-Rose Depp’s character, Ellen, who looks more sickly as she becomes more possessed by the demon. “We wanted to keep it realistic in how they would look in that era,” Loader says. “Our approach — Robert really likes a no-makeup makeup — to Ellen was, in that era, they didn’t wear a lot of beauty makeup. It was more corrective.” 

Loader used silicone makeup that possessed a luminous quality so it wouldn’t look as matte or dry as a foundation would. She also had four different levels of paleness for Ellen, each becoming progressively lighter as filming went on. Loader then added subtle veining. She says, “We tried to keep everything as authentic with her as we could.”

This story first appeared in a January stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.