Nosferatu star Nicholas Hoult says Bill Skarsgård’s intimidating "physical presence" as Count Orlok terrified him on set of the vampire horror

Nicholas Hoult in Nosferatu — (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

From what we have seen so far from the Nosferatu trailer and little sneak peeks, Bill Skarsgård looks completely unrecognizable as Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’s upcoming horror movie remake. But co-star Nicholas Hoult says the IT star was much more frightening on set.

"Bill's very intimidating. He's a physical presence. You know? He's a tall, big guy," said Hoult to GamesRadar+ at the UK premiere of Nosferatu. "Then he had the big costume on top of that, and his hat, and the makeup, and the physicality he brought to the character, but also the intensity. It's a wonderful performance. I'm excited for people to see it."

Skarsgård is no stranger to bringing terrifying monsters to life and working under a lot of prosthetics in the process. In the 2017 movie IT, the star plays Stephen King’s child-eating clown Pennywise. Now, Skarsgård is using his shapeshifting abilities to bring Orlok to a modern audience in Nosferatu, which follows the ancient Transylvanian corpse’s pursuit of a young woman named Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), in Victorian-era Germany.

Eggers’s Nosferatu is based on the 1922 movie of the same name, which is in turn adapted from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, making Skarsgård the latest to play the Count. The head vamp has been adapted and brought to life by many stars over the years, including Christopher Lee and Max Schreck. But Eggers told Total Film Online and GamesRadar+ that despite his movie being a remake, his villain is much different from anything we have seen before.

Although director Eggers and his team are keeping their cards close to their chest when it comes to Orlok’s appearance, those who have seen the movie have been raving over Skarsgård’s simply chilling performance. In our Nosferatu review, we outline how "genuinely scary" the vamp is. "Reports of Skarsgård being unrecognizable in the role are entirely founded. He is monstrous in so many senses of the word."

As well as Skarsgård, Depp, and Hoult, who plays Ellen’s husband Thomas Hutter, the cast of Nosferatu also includes Willem Dafoe as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, Emma Corrin as Anna Harding, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding, and Simon McBurney as Herr Knock.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.