With the arrival of Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” we can say one thing for certain: Bill Skarsgård is really good at stepping into the roles of iconic horror movie monsters. Skarsgård has seemingly pulled off this minor miracle twice, with stunning results both times. In 2017’s “It,” Skarsgård slathered on some greasepaint to play Pennywise the Dancing Clown (a role he’s reprising in the upcoming Max series “Welcome to Derry”), the malevolent shape-shifter prone to hanging out in sewers and chowing down on kids. It was no small feat. While 2017’s “It” was the first feature adaptation of Stephen King’s tome of terror, it wasn’t the first time the material had made it to the screen. Back in 1990, “It” was adapted into a TV miniseries, and featured the legendary Tim Curry as Pennywise. When word broke that “It” was being adapted again, fans of the miniseries all seemed to share the opinion: it would be nearly impossible for anyone to step into Curry’s clown shoes. Curry’s take on Pennywise had become so legendary, so ingrained into pop culture, that it was seen as a fool’s errand to even try to replace him.
And yet, Skarsgård pulled it off. I’m not going to sit here and debate which of the performances is “better,” simply because they’re both unique and distinct from each other. Curry’s Pennywise feels like more of a carnival showman; a big, loud trickster who seems to really enjoy his work. Skarsgård’s take, in sharp contrast, is a lot weirder; he pitches his voice up, crosses one of his eyes (something the actor is able to do for real, without the aid of makeup or CGI), and drools a lot. Skarsgård’s Pennywise is almost childlike in certain ways; he seems immature, even though he’s apparently been around for centuries. And in the end, Skarsgård made it work. It might simply be a case of recency bias, but these days, if you ask someone to picture Pennywise, they’re almost certain to think of Skarsgård’s version first. It’s proof that the doubters were wrong, and that Skarsgård really had what it took to make a horror icon his own.
Now, with “Nosferatu,” he’s done it again. You could argue that by taking on the role of Count Orlok, Skarsgård had an even bigger challenge than playing Pennywise. With Pennywise, the actor only had to contend with the memorable performance of one person, Tim Curry. WIth Orlok, Skarsgård has to deal with multiple actors having played the role already. In 1922, Max Schreck, looking completely believable as a rodent-like vampire, originated the character in F. W. Murnau’s silent classic. Then, in 1979, legendary and problematic actor Klaus Kinski played the vampire for Werner Herzog’s remake “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (note: Kinski’s character is named Count Dracula in Herzog’s film, since “Nosferatu” was an officially “Dracula” adaptation, but Kinski is clearly playing the same Orlok character, complete with similar makeup). And just to complicate things further, the wonderfully meta horror film “Shadow of the Vampire” had Willem Dafoe slip into the famous Orlok makeup to play a (fictionalized) version of Max Schreck (interestingly enough, Dafoe appears in the new “Nosferatu,” too, playing a vampire hunter). That’s a lineup of heavy-hitters. And yet, despite the odds, Skarsgård makes Count Orlok his own, just like he did with Pennywise.
