Bill Skarsgård Almost Played a Completely Different Role in ‘Nosferatu,’ As Mads Mikkelsen Was Originally Attached to Orlok Role

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake is a major hit globally, but the movie could have looked quite different if the director’s original plans had come to life. About ten years ago, when Eggers first set out to direct the horror classic, Bill Skarsgård wasn’t the first choice for Count Orlok.

In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Skarsgård shared that actors like Mads Mikkelsen and Willem Dafoe were initially considered for the vampire role. At the time, Skarsgård was in the running for a different part—Thomas Hutter, which eventually went to Nicholas Hoult.

Skarsgård recalled meeting Eggers in New York almost a decade ago. Eggers had just completed The Witch and planned to make Nosferatu his next project:

I met him [Robert Eggers] in New York almost ten years ago, and he was doing Nosferatu. That would be his follow-up movie after The Witch. I read the script, and the script blew my mind.

I thought: ‘This is incredible, it’s so him and so great’. And the script didn’t change all that much, it was solidified, his vision. I read for Aaron’s [Taylor-Johnson] role, Friedrich Harding, in the movie, and then he thought I could be good for Thomas Hutter. I read for that, and I booked that, so I was supposed to be Thomas in this movie ten years ago.

Originally, he read for the role of Friedrich Harding, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the final film, but Eggers later considered him for Thomas Hutter. Skarsgård was set to play Hutter before the project was put on hold.

After the delay, Eggers moved on to direct The Lighthouse and The Northman. Skarsgård was initially supposed to appear in The Northman with his brother Alexander, but COVID-related delays forced him out. ‘It was devastating. I was really excited about it,’ he admitted during the chat with Josh Horowitz.

Years later, when Nosferatu came back into development, most roles were already taken. But Eggers had a new plan: Skarsgård as Count Orlok. ‘Out of the blue, he reached out and said: “I think you can play Orlok,”‘ Skarsgård recalled.

The result? Skarsgård delivered a standout performance as the iconic vampire. Nosferatu, featuring Lily Rose-Depp and Emma Corrin alongside him, hit US theaters on December 25 and UK screens on January 1.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!