Bill Skarsgård on Remaking ‘Nosferatu’ and the Pressure of ‘F-king With a Masterpiece’

Are you curious about the more dangerous side of human nature?

The darker characters are also often more complex. More mental gymnastics is needed. Again, with Orlok it’s like, okay, if it’s an ancient wizard who speaks from another realm and has all this power and knowledge, then what makes power and knowledge ultimately corrupt a soul, as opposed to creating of a messiah?

Do you ever worry about getting typecast?

I definitely don’t want that exclusively play those kinds of roles, but I’ve never seen the appeal of the classic star, a movie star. The difference between a movie star and an actor is that a movie star plays himself, in a sense, in every role. While you transform as an actor. There are people who play themselves, and they’re brilliant every time, but it’s the same thing and they have that trick. For me, I just don’t think I’m that charismatic or interesting, so I can’t just lean on that. I have to transform as far away from myself as possible.

Do you feel a kinship with actors of the past, like Lon Chaney or Boris Karloff, for example, who played dark creatures and often transformed their regular performances?

It’s a great question. Yes, I do. But that said, it was never my specific goal to be the “creature actor,” if you will. There are so many (actors) that I get inspiration from. Many other actors do not known for their intense transformations are also some of my favorites. I haven’t really studied the prosthetics greats or creature feats that way. I’ve watched it a lot, but I don’t necessarily look at performances for inspiration because there’s always some element of emulation that I don’t want to miss. For Orlok, predators felt like a cleaner source of inspiration.

You mentioned earlier that you’ve played a character familiar from a previous version several times, but you did it in a new and different way. Did you feel that again? Nosferatu?

Orlok is also Dracula. For me, Dracula/Nosferatu is number one when it comes to iconic horror characters. It is certainly the most groundbreaking literary work in the field of Gothic horror. I think it’s been adapted more than any other book. This story is so deeply rooted in our subconscious that it was very difficult to step into it. I used to be a big fan of (Robert) Eggers. He and I would have things where we were like, ‘What are we doing? Why do we Nosferatu? Are we assuming something too big here?” We felt that pressure to fuck a masterpiece. But the film deserves its place as a new interpretation.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have always cherished the idea of ​​being as versatile as possible. I also want to do a kitchen sink drama, I want to do a dark, twisted comedy. I want to make those choices or advocate for those choices. You have to fight against being typecast or put in a box. The more you fight it, the bigger the box becomes.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. For fashion and beauty details, visit VF.com/credits.