Some directors give film references to watch, others advise their casts to read morbid monster sex books. Horror auteur Robert Eggers, of course, does both.
“Nosferatu” star Lily-Rose Depp told IndieWire that writer and director Eggers encouraged her to read the short story “Péhor” by French author Remy de Gourmont to prepare to play Ellen Hutter, a woman who conjures Count Orlok (Bill Skårsgard) to be her companion. Orlok possesses Ellen as she sleeps, and is determined to make her be his bride, despite her already being married to Thomas (Nicholas Hoult).
Depp found de Gourmont’s occult writing to be a kind of “Bible” during production. “Rob is incredibly well-researched, famously, and so he sent me a lot of references, a lot of movies that had inspired him for the role. He also gave me this text to read, which is called ‘Péhor’ [by Remy de Gourmont], and it’s kind of like a story about a young religious girl who has a sexual awakening love story with a demon,” Depp told IndieWire during a recent interview. “So, of course, that was quite pertinent for me. I used that kind of like a Bible and found myself reading it again and again as we were shooting.”
“Péhor” is part of “Histoires magiques,” a collection of short stories that center on a troubled young girl named Douceline as she finds herself becoming sensually devoted to religious figures. Douceline becomes sexually involved with undead creature Péhor, who awakens her to the pleasures of sin.
Depp’s performance as Ellen includes guttural simulated orgasms amid her cosmic link to Orlok, which manifests as seizures. Depp channeled the moaning sounds that she had put on display in the controversial and critically misunderstood series “The Idol,” which was Depp’s TV debut and breakout role. “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson was behind the Max show.
When asked if “The Idol” prepared her for the physicality and vocal elements of simulated sex in “Nosferatu,” Depp simply said, “Yes,” before adding, “I love to meet an ‘Idol’ fan. I love talking about it.”
In the series, Depp played pop star Jocelyn, who is a femme fatale of sorts as she copes with the stress of an upcoming tour and a toxic romance with a club owner (The Weeknd). “Honestly, I do feel that there’s a real through line [between the projects], of course,” Depp said of the two roles. “Jocelyn and Ellen could not be more different characters, and the worlds that they have could not be more different from each other. There is a through-line there to me in that they’re both very specific, demanding roles and clearly, that’s something that I’m interested in exploring.”
She continued, “I definitely feel like the physical work that I did on ‘The Idol,’ and the emotional work as well, definitely played a part in preparing me for this one [‘Nosferatu’], because it just taught me so much. Honestly, [‘The Idol’] was a real growth period for me as an actor and as a person. I feel like I just learned so much doing ‘The Idol’ that I carried [it] with me to ‘Nosferatu.’ I feel like every role that you play teaches you something and nudges you along your way on your kind of artistic path, if you will.”
It also helped that “Nosferatu” immediately began filming right after Depp concluded production on “The Idol.” “We shot ‘Nosferatu’ like only two months after I wrapped ‘The Idol.’ So I feel like I had that in my body, the physicality and the emotion and everything. I definitely brought that with me, even though, you know, it’s a very different style of filmmaking,” Depp said. “It’s very different in a lot of ways, but I did feel those similarities.”
Between “The Idol” and “Nosferatu” both showcasing Depp’s undeniable range and talent, which medium would the actress prefer to stick to with her next project? While Depp couldn’t disclose specifics, she does have at least one other project on the horizon, and assured that she is interested in both film and TV, especially during this era of Hollywood.
“I think that there’s hardly ever been a better time for both,” Depp said. “I think the bridge has been very much like gap in film and TV, where so many incredible film directors are doing TV and vice versa. I love doing both. ‘The Idol’ was my first TV experience, and I loved that so much.”
Focus Features will release “Nosferatu” in theaters on Wednesday, December 25.
