One of this year's most anticipated horror movies is still to come. Robert Eggers, the director of films like The Lighthouse and The Witch, will soon bring us his take on the 1922 German film Nosferatu with the film of the same name releasing on Christmas Day by Focus Features.
Nosferatu stars Bill Skarsgård in the leading role of Count Orlok and includes a stacked cast featuring Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, and more.
Eggers has been developing this movie for almost a decade now, and we'll finally get to see it in theaters soon. Given the director's dedication to his craft, it's not surprising that he went to great lengths to maintain authenticity in the film, leading to some fascinating behind-the-scenes facts about the making of Nosferatu.
4. They used 5,000 real rats on set
Dedicated to authenticity, director Eggers previously revealed to Deadline that they used 5,000 real rats in the movie. Meaning that if you see a rat scamper by in the background of a shot or in the foreground, it's real, although they eventually "thin out and become CG rats in the background." Eggers says that the rats were very well-trained, but he wasn't aware that "rats are incontinent," so you can imagine how terrible the set smelled.
3. Lily-Rose Depp's physically demanding role
There might be a few moments while watching Nosferatu where you question whether or not Lily-Rose Depp is genuinely performing the physical stuntwork you see before, and Eggers made it clear to Deadline that she did it all herself and that it's not enhanced with CGI.
At a film Q&A, per IndieWire, Eggers discussed how Depp prepared for the physically demanding role, saying she worked with a Japanese dance theater specialist and took inspiration from 19th-century female "hysteria" patients.
Based on the descriptions of Depp's work in the film, it sounds like what Linda Blair did during her many scenes convulsing in bed as Regan in The Exorcist, something that caused the actress to fracture her lower spine.
2. By candlelight
Like with the rats, Eggers' dedication to curating a film that feels like it really takes place in the 19th century led him to a somewhat unorthodox lighting technique. Production reportedly used hundreds of candles to light the Transylvanian-set scenes in the movie, according to an exclusive from Den of Geek.
"“And Jarin would have hundreds of candles, and the way he would light a face would just be like, ‘Light more candles; kill these four candles; light those up.’ I remember being very hot and sweaty.” "Bill Skarsgård
1. Bill Skarsgård's performance as Count Orlok
In the same Deadline interview mentioned above, Eggers discusses the challenge of creating Count Orlok's sinister appearance in the film. Skarsgård reportedly spent six hours in the makeup chair to get his look just right, but don't expect to see it before the movie premieres. The film's version of Count Orlok will be kept hidden, similar to what Neon did earlier this year with Nicolas Cage's appearance in Longlegs.
But there have been many hints and teases about Skargård's role, including the actor himself revealing to Esquire it took him time to "shake off the demon" after "conjuring pure evil" to get into character. In that same interview, he talked about how his portrayal of Count Orlok is "very sexualized," toying with the "sexual fetish about the power of the monster" and why that appeals to so many.
Nosferatu begins playing in theaters on December 25.