Willem Dafoe debuts as a 'crazy vampire hunter' in Nosferatu sneak peek

Willem Dafoe may look like he's on his own in EW's exclusive first look at his character from the horror film Nosferatu, but writer-director Robert Eggers reveals that the scene, which involves a tomb surrounded by flames, found the actor working with many costars.

"That sequence, aside from having real flames, had 2,000 real rats," says the filmmaker, who has now worked with Dafoe across three projects: 2019's The Lighthouse, 2022's The Northman, and this new film coming out next year. "Which was challenging but also fun."

Dafoe plays a vampire hunter named Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz in Eggers' Prague-shot take on director F.W. Murnau's 1922 horror classic. That film was itself an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and was previously remade by Werner Herzog as 1979's Nosferatu the Vampyre. While the character from Murnau's film upon which Eggers based Dafoe's professor is on the periphery of the action, the director says he amped up Von Franz to be a "crazy vampire hunter" — a character, he says, "I've always loved and related to."

Eggers describes his period tale, which is set in both Transylvania and Germany, as a tale concerning "a haunted woman who's tormented by a terrifying vampire." That vampire is called Count Orlok and is played by Bill Skarsgård, whose brother Alexander starred as Eggers' lead Viking in The Northman. Bill is best known for playing, under a good deal of makeup, the clown-monster Pennywise in the It films. Eggers explains that the Swedish actor underwent an even more extreme makeover for his performance as Orlok.

"Aside from his eyes, it’s hard to find Bill," the director says. "I’m trying to not give too much away, but Bill totally transforms into something that is very unique." Eggers does let on that the actor worked with an opera coach to lower his voice an octave. "People are going to think it’s all digital tampering, but he put in the work," the filmmaker continues. "I’m super excited to see what audiences make of Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok."

The film's heroine, Ellen Hutter, is played by The Idol star Lily-Rose Depp, while Nicholas Hoult from TV show The Great and this year's vampire comedy Renfield portrays her husband Thomas. "In many ways, he's the damsel in distress in this story," Eggers says of Hoult's role. "The main thing that makes this different from the other versions of Nosferatu is that it focuses much more on Lily-Rose’s character Ellen."

Eggers chose Aaron Taylor-Johnson and The Crown actress Emma Corrin to play another couple, Friedrich and Anna Harding. The director says Friedrich is friends with Hutter in the original Nosferatu but is much more fleshed out in this film. "In the Murnau version, he is with his sister Ruth, but here he has his wife, and their relationship is much more complex and integral to the story," Eggers explains.

The cast also includes Ralph Ineson, who appeared in both The Witch and The Northman. Eggers describes his character, Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, as "in many ways the Watson to Willem Dafoe’s Holmes."

That starry ensemble, however, almost looked very different. Over the last decade, Eggers twice attempted to get his Nosferatu into production only to have things fall apart before the start of filming. The director initially thought of Bill Skarsgård for the role ultimately played by Hoult. Other actors in the frame to portray roles over the years included Harry Styles and The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy, who was ultimately unable to appear in the movie for scheduling reasons. Remarkably, Eggers never gave up hope — or, at least, didn't do so for too long.

"The second time it fell apart, I thought, Clearly, this movie is not supposed to be made," he admits, with a laugh. "I don’t necessarily think everything happens for a reason, but the way the film turned out with this incredible cast is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if everything does happen for a reason."

Nosferatu is scheduled for release in theaters Dec. 25, 2024.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• We could've had a Nosferatu movie with Harry Styles!
• Harry Styles would not have played a vampire in Robert Eggers' new version of Nosferatu
• The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy gives update on Nosferatu remake
• Bill Skarsgard's It smile is just as terrifying without makeup