What Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok Looks Like In Nosferatu

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Nosferatu (2024).Director Robert Eggers' fourth film, Nosferatu, hits theaters Christmas 2024, delivering his remake of the 1922 movie of the same thing, with both being loose adaptations of the novel Dracula. With Eggers' remake comes Bill Skarsgård's version of the famous vampire, Count Orlok.

Count Orlok was originated by actor Max Schreck, and he is a nobleman and vampire. That remains the same in Robert Eggers' stunning remake of the horror classic, but Skarsgård's iteration of the character does look different from the original. This is thanks to Eggers' vision of the character, as well as his incredible hair and makeup department -- a department that earned a Critics' Choice Awards nomination for Best Hair and Makeup. This is one of four awards Nosferatu is nominated for at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Full Description Of Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok Look In Nosferatu

Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok Looks Like A Living Corpse

Bill Skarsgård is an incredible character actor who is no stranger to wearing intense makeup and prosthetics for a role, having portrayed Pennywise in the past for It. He does so again for Count Orlok in Nosferatu; although, the effect becoming Nosferatu's vampire had on Skarsgård was incredibly draining. His transformation into Count Orlok is remarkable, right down to Skarsgård's Count Orlok voice and haunting appearance.

Orlok's a towering figure with claw-like hands, thanks to his lengthy fingers and sharp, long nails. He has a frail build, as well as rotting, aged skin, giving him a corpse-like appearance. The back of his head even features what appears to be exposed skull and tissue with very little to no hair.

However, he hides this -- as well as his slightly pointy ears -- with a fur hat. He also hides the rest of his skeletal build under elaborate robes and clothing. To conceal his sharp teeth, he sports a bushy mustache, which is one of the biggest differences between this version of Count Orlok and the original one.

How Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok Looks Different From Max Schreck's Version

Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok Is More Dead Looking Than Max Schreck's Version Of Nosferatu's Villain

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There are a few key differences between Count Orlok in the 1922 film and Bill Skarsgård's iteration of the vampire; however, they both nail the classic, hunched-over silhouette of Count Orlok. One difference, for instance, are the exaggerated features of the original Count Orlok. Max Schreck's version has even longer, more talon-like nails, and more prominent and pointed ears. Skarsgård's version of the character still features sharp nails and somewhat pointed ears, but they are a bit less animal-like.

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He wears more layers of clothes, and said clothes look more regal and elaborate. Furthermore, Skarsgård has rotting flesh, a corpse-like complexion, and a more skeletal build. He also has a mustache, when the original Orlok is hairless. While the original Count Orlok looks like he's always been a monster, Skarsgård looks more like a living dead man who once came from a well-off background, which was Robert Eggers' intention.

Nosferatu's Count Orlok Design Is A First For Movies

As reported in an interview with Vanity Fair, director Robert Eggers broke down how Nosferatu's new Count Orlok look breaks ground for Dracula stories. For Eggers, he wanted this version of Count Orlok to look more like a folk vampire, which means looking more like a corpse or zombie.

This Orlok is more of a folk vampire than any other film version. That means he's a dead person... Folk vampires in some ways are more visually similar to zombies. The reason why he looks the way he looks, and he dresses the way he's dressed is because, for the first time in a Dracula or Nosferatu story, this guy looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman. Every single thing he's wearing, down to the heels on his shoes, is what he would've worn.

While Orlok looks more like a zombie in the 2024 version of Nosferatu, he is not a mindless ghoul. He still has his wits about him, and he clings to the fact he is a nobleman. He wants to look the part, so he wears elaborate robes and coats. Plus, these clothes can hide his undead form, with even the fur hat concealing his rotten-looking skull, and his mustache concealing his sharp teeth.

Another reason why Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok has a mustache, according to the director, is because Transylvanian men had mustaches back then, and Orlok is still trying to look like a man, not a monster. Count Orlok is trying to conceal that he is a monster for a few reasons. Not only does he want to cling to his noble status, but he also wants his victims, like Nicholas Hoult's Thomas Hutter, to not realize he is dead at first.

"My thinking is that if you invite someone to your castle, and you don't want them to know that you're dead, you're trying to be hidden," Eggers says to Vanity Fair about Nosferatu, and that is clear in how this version of Orlok is dressed. Plus, with the makeup making Skarsgård's Orlok look more undead than the original Orlok, he needs to do more to pass as human, at least until he is ready to reveal his true self to them.

Source: Vanity Fair