Robert Eggers Reveals How Bill Skarsgård Influenced the Ending of ‘Nosferatu’

Nosferatu, a masterpiece of Expressionist film and one of the most significant films ever made, was directed by F.W. Murnau. Max Schreck played the part of Count Orlok in the 1922 release, a portrayal that will always be remembered in the annals of film. A new, partly reinvented version of the German classic will be released on December 25, 2024, 102 years after the original film’s debut.

Murnau’s film has served as an influence for other filmmakers and indie filmmaker Robert Eggers has taken it upon himself to bring us a modern take on the German classic, starring horror icon Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok.

While this take on Dracula changed the story of Stoker’s novel, Eggers has decided to approach the original film differently. Sure, the majority of the movie will remain the same, but the ending is going to be a bit different and Eggers has recently revealed how Bill Skarsgård actually influenced the changes in the story.

As we’ve said, Eggers is directing the movie, while, alongside Skarsgård as Count Orlok, we will see Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter, Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding, Emma Corrin as Anna Harding, Willem Dafoe as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, Simon McBurney as Herr Knock, and Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers.

The movie itself has a series of production issues and cast changes before finally being made, and while the process was a tough one, we are very happy that we are going to see it soon.

In a recent interview for SFX Magazine, Eggers explained how Skarsgård changed the film’s ending by finding some vulnerability in Orlok, a character generally interpreted as evil incarnate:

I sent (Skarsgard) a backstory of Orlok that I wrote. So we came to it together to achieve what I was after. Because I’m so tired of the heroic and sad vampires, I was just like, ‘He’s a demon. He’s so evil.’

Bill was like, ‘Yeah, but there needs to be some times where he has some kind of vulnerability.’ It’s very subtle, and it’s not there often, but it is enough. I think the ending of the movie is much more effective than it would have been without Bill’s acute sensitivity to that – while still delivering on this big, scary, masculine vampire.

Source: SFX Magazine

As you can see, even if you’ve seen the original, there are still some surprises that await us, so we are actually very excited to see how Eggers and his cast have decided to approach this classic and whether it is going to be a worthy remake or not.

Knowing Eggers, we can at least expect a very dedicated and meticulously crafter movie, if nothing else, which is generally enough.

Before we close this article, here is the official synopsis of the upcoming movie:

In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok summons Thomas Hutter to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen. After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock, prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.

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