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Fans will likely never forget Bill Skarsgård‘s full-frontal moment as the decrepit Count Orlok enters Nosferatu – but the creative team behind the scenes remains just as haunted.
Heavy prosthetics is nothing new for Skarsgård, 34, as he has transformed into various levels of haunting creatures in films such as The and The crow. Adding a prosthetic penis to his body for his role as Count Orlok in nosferatu, however, was a new experience – one that created a memorable moment not just for Skarsgård’s on-screen character, but for costar Nicholas HoultThomas Hutter and the film’s creative team.
“With [Nick’s character] Thomas, they had a scene where Orlok was sucking his blood and the penis kept rubbing on his leg and he didn’t know how to react to him.” Traci Loader, Nosferatu‘s lead makeup designer, told Us Weekly in an exclusive interview.
“I don’t think you’ll forget that moment,” the film’s head of hair, Suzanne Stokes-Muntonadded, to which Loader replied, “No, it will live forever!”
Bill Skarsgård knows how to get into character by drastically transforming into several creepy roles throughout his career. Skarsgård cemented his role as the scream king when he portrayed Pennywise in the It film series. However, his filmography was already filled with other horror projects, including Netflix’s Hemlock Grove. The actor who played Roman starred […]
The audience gets their own view of the prosthetic pendant in the third act when Thomas tries to escape from Orlok’s castle after realizing he is being fed by the old vampire. Finding his way to the basement, he tries to stake a sleeping Orlok, but instead wakes him up. As Thomas runs for his life, Orlok rises from his sarcophagus and bares his clothes.
As for why the prosthetic penis was necessary for filming in the first place, head prosthetic makeup effects designer David White — who created the prop — gave Us a little insight into the scene.
“[Bill] knew it was coming, and as soon as I saw that shot in the frame, I was like, ‘Oh no, here come the questions about it.’ Because until then, nobody had said a word,” White said. “It was a creation beyond Bill’s own self… We had to find a way to make the whole body work for the shot where he rises from his sarcophagus. So there was no way around it.”
Hoult himself has been honest about the awkward moment on set and told Elle in a recent interview that, after expressing that he could feel the prop pushing up against his leg, director Robert Eggers sent him a surprise gift.
Nicholas Hoult
Aidan Monaghan“As a gift-wrapper, Rob had it framed and he sent it to my house,” Hoult told the outlet, noting that he ultimately had to take the prosthetic to a framing shop after the gift arrived damaged.
“When I went back to get it, I think [the shop owner] clocked like how weird it was that I was potentially framing this vampire penis,” Hoult explained. And he thought, ‘Is this some kind of collector’s item?’ and I thought: ‘Hm, you can say that'”.
While the fake genitalia may have caused some challenges for Hoult, wearing it was no problem for Skarsgård. White told Us the actor was the ultimate “professional”.
Skarsgård was also involved in the creative process, according to his team, and was influential in helping to create Orlok’s moustache. The facial hair was originally supposed to be much longer and a different color than the final product turned out to be, thanks to Skarsgård’s input.
“There were a few different sizes of mustaches to choose from,” White recalled. “I offered a whole row. At first it was a little big, believe it or not, it was bigger than it is now, and then it’s reduced, and if you look closely, it’s actually thinned out in the middle area, and it’s done on purpose so you can see a bit more of the teeth and everything underneath.”
He continued: “I added a little bit of silver to the end that I thought would be really nice and give a little bit of extra character and suggest aging but not kind of take him too far. And Bill was aware of those color changes. So he agreed and wanted it to be the case.”
White added that while on set, Skarsgård tended to stay in character and was “quiet and in the shadows like Orlok would be.” However, seeing the actor in full swing was much more comical behind the scenes than one would think it would be.
“When he first went on stage he was half-dressed and then had joggers on the bottom,” Loader recalled with a laugh.
Nosferatu playing in theaters now.