‘I was terrified’: Bill Skarsgård compared Nosferatu’s transformation to Pennywise in IT

On November 26, 2024By Pranco

It’s nothing new that Bill Skarsgård is one of the best horror actors – he even has two scary films on our agenda. Movie schedule 2024 (although Nosferatu will probably be much more successful than The Crow). And while the Swedish actor has no problem delving into dark characters, the actual transformation may be a different story. He admitted how much more intimidating and scarier it was to turn into Count Orlok for the upcoming monster classic than it was to turn into Pennywise in It.

Monster movie remakes and new interpretations are hot fodder for Hollywood. With much more vintage remakes on the wayit was great to see some classics revived. One of the most heralded is coming next month. Robert Egger’s take on classic horrorthe buzz of the movie has started.

Critics have had and have been positive responses ‘They really put their teeth into it’ in the movie and are absolutely terrified. They’re not the only ones either. Skarsgård opened up Entertainment weekly about how drastic a transformation he underwent to get to Count Orlok. He also said it was more intense than Pennywise (It series) and was intimidated that he wouldn’t be able to get through it. He shared:

I was terrified just looking at the image. It looked so different from me, much more so than Pennywise. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to perform through it, that it would feel like giant prosthetic pieces, and that I wouldn’t be able to come alive because of it.

The Barbarian actor shared that this upcoming version of Dracula scares him even more then that of Stefan King‘s killer clown. It’s one thing to delve into the motivations of a fictional but terrifying vampire, but it’s another thing entirely to do that investigation And dress up as him. And while the clown is terrifying, I can totally see that Nosferatu is much more intense.

Luckily for Skarsgård, he made it all work, even though he was terrified. After the first try on of the costume, he found Drac. He said:

That was the first time I felt that the camera was alive, and that I (could) become this thing. Robert came up to me afterwards and said, ‘There he is.’

I’m glad he knew how to act. From what I’ve seen, I know I’ll be shocked after watching it. It’s really impressive to know how much this role intimidated him and that he figured out how to convey something so chilling. It’s something he’s incredibly good at and is highly sought after, and will continue to be back to play Pennywise for the Max It prequel series, part of our TV program 2025.

In the meantime, we’ll have to see how terrifying the new vampire transformation is, coming out on December 25. Maybe the Eternals alum may haunt my dreams with another of his terrifying characters.

If you’re waiting for Bill Skarsgård in the classic monster movie, check out book-turned movie monster Pennywise in the It series, available with a Maximum subscription.