It looks like Willem Dafoe will be getting acquainted with Nosferatu once again, more than 20 years after he gave an Oscar-nominated performance of the character in vampire movie Shadow of the Vampire.
He’ll be reuniting with director Robert Eggers — who he worked with for The Northman and The Lighthouse — for the director’s new movie, also entitled Nosferatu. This time round, Bill Skarsgård will be playing the titular monster, as he obsessively stalks a young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) in 19th-century Germany. Dafoe’s role in the monster movie is currently undisclosed, but he will be starring alongside Skarsgård, Depp, and Nicholas Hoult.
As well as directing, Eggers will also be writing the horror movie, while Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Eggers, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus will co-produce it.
In a featurette from a now-out-of-print DVD for The Shadow of the Vampire, Dafoe shared some insight into how he got into character for the ‘2000s movie — perhaps Skarsgard could take his advice?
“I started from a place of imitation and then started dealing with all these external things,” the Spider-Man movie actor explained. “I had a model in the respect that I had the original footage to work from, so that gave me some idea of a physicality and a way of being.”
“Then, of course, they designed the makeup that was quite extreme, that served as a mask, served as a disguise that certainly would, you know, take me away from myself and puts me someplace else. You know, when you don’t quite feel like yourself or look like yourself, that’s always a fertile place for pretending.”
We’ll keep you updated on Eggers’s production. Have a look at our list of the best werewolf movies for more horrific beasties.