Fans will likely never forget Bill Skarsgård’s full frontal moment as the decrepit Count Orlok in Nosferatu – but the creative team behind the scenes remain just as haunted.
Heavy prosthetics are nothing new to Skarsgård, 34, as he’s transformed into various levels of haunting creatures in films like It and The Crow. Adding a prosthetic penis onto his body for his role as Count Orlok in Nosferatu, however, was a new experience — one that created a memorable moment not only for Skarsgård’s character on screen but for costar Nicholas Hoult’s Thomas Hutter and the film’s creative team.
“With [Nick’s character] Thomas, they had a scene where Orlok was sucking his blood and the penis kept rubbing on his leg and he didn’t know how to react to him,” Traci Loader, Nosferatu’s lead makeup designer, told Us Weekly in an exclusive interview.
“I don’t think you’ll forget that moment,” the film’s hair department head, Suzanne Stokes-Munton, added, to which Loader replied, “No, that will live on forever!”
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Audiences get their own view of the prosthetic appendage in the third act when Thomas attempts to flee Orlok’s castle after realizing he’s being fed on by the ancient vampire. As he finds his way to the cellar, he attempts to stake a sleeping Orlok but wakes him instead. As Thomas runs for his life, Orlok rises out of his sarcophagus, exposing himself free of clothing.
As for why the prosthetic penis was necessary to filming in the first place, head of prosthetic makeup effects designer David White — who created the prop — gave Us some insight into the scene.
“[Bill] knew it was coming, and as soon as I saw that shot in the frame, I thought, ‘Oh no, here come the questions about that.’ Because up until then nobody had said a word,” White said. “It was a creation above and beyond Bill’s own self … We had to find a way of making the whole body work for the shot where he rises from his sarcophagus. So, there was no way around it.”
Hoult himself has been candid about the awkward moment on set, telling Elle in a recent interview that after voicing that he could feel the prop pushing up against his leg, director Robert Eggers sent him a surprise gift.
“As a wrap gift, Rob got it framed, and he sent it to my house,” Hoult told the outlet, noting that he ultimately had to take the prosthetic to a frame shop after the present arrived damaged.
“When I went back to pick it up, I think [the shop owner] clocked, like, how weird it was that I was framing potentially this vampire penis,” Hoult explained. “And he was like, ‘Is this some kind of collector’s piece?’ and I was like, ‘Hm, you could say that.’”
While the faux genitalia may have caused some challenges for Hoult, wearing it was no problem for Skarsgård. White told Us the actor was the ultimate “professional.”
Skarsgård was also involved with the creative process, according to its team and had a say in helping craft Orlok’s mustache. The facial hair was initially supposed to be a lot longer and a different color than what the final product came out to be, thanks to Skarsgård’s input.
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“There were a few different sizes of mustache to choose from,” White recalled. “I offered up a whole variety. At first it was a bit big, believe it or not, it was bigger than what it is now, and then it’s reduced and if you look closely, it’s actually thinned in the center area and that’s done on purpose so that you can see a little bit more of the teeth and everything beneath there.”
He continued: “I added a little bit of silver to the end, which I thought would be really lovely and give a little bit of extra character and suggest aging, but not sort of take him too far. And Bill was aware of those color changes. So he agreed and wanted that to be the case.”
White added that while on set, Skarsgård tended to remain in character and was “quiet and in the shadows as Orlok would be.” Seeing the actor in full garb, however, was much more comical behind the scenes than one would assume it would be.
“When he first went to set, he would be half dressed and then have joggers on the bottom,” Loader recalled with a laugh.
Nosferatu is playing in theaters now.
