By Shannon McGrew
In Robert Eggers's NOSFERATU, a gothic tale of obsession awakens between a haunted young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) and the terrifying vampire (Bill Skarsgård) infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
For the release of NOSFERATU on PVOD, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with prosthetics/makeup effects designer David White. During their chat, they discussed everything from the challenges of reimagining an iconic character to the collaborative process with Robert Eggers and Bill Skarsgård and the intricate details that brought Count Orlok to life for modern audiences.
Thank you so much for speaking with me today, David. Nosferatu has an incredible visual history. How did you approach reimagining the makeup and prosthetics while paying homage to what came before?
David White: The 1922 Max Schreck version was branded into our heads as teenagers. We see those images all the time. It's a weird goth brand. When this came about with Robert, it was obvious that it would be different because of the depth that he goes into with the folklore and the traditions of things. We knew it needed to be fresh, whatever happened. We knew we had Bill Skarsgård involved, and as soon as you get any particular actor involved, you tailor it to their needs. There are a few little nods here and there to the original, for example, the shape of Nosferatu's back. The character was based on a real guy, which is unusual because you must also hit the right notes. You don't want to let people down. It's an interesting dilemma but a great outcome, I hope.
What was it like collaborating with Robert Eggers and Bill Skarsgård to ensure that whatever you created would support the performance?
David White: Everything is built for the cameras of today and the audience, so we had some good armory ready to go. Robert was keen on it being as real as possible but as grounded as possible. This isn't a creature; it's not a beast; he's a guy. He's somebody who once lived as a nobleman of that time. As far as Bill was concerned, he came on board because he's so used to the prosthetic elements. It was helpful because he was very patient, and it took us a little while to get up to speed. He warmed to it straight away. There were a few little tweaks we did, but generally speaking, he was on board from the beginning. I knew I had to give him a certain amount of area around his eyes and mouth so that it was him, you know, just to let Bill breathe. He's got these wonderful eyes, and it's really important that he can express himself so there are no eye bags, no hoods to age him. It's just Bill, which I think he was really happy about.
Since Count Orlok is hidden in the shadows throughout most of the film, do you still need to apply makeup and prosthetics to him fully? How long did it take to apply everything?
David White: Good question. His head and hands, when he's not naked, were always put on so that it gave Robert the option to do whatever he fancied or whatever he wanted. You certainly wouldn't want to get there and say he can't turn three quarters [because he's missing prosthetics/makeup). After a day of filming, that wouldn't go down very well, so you basically do everything. Bill feels good, too, because he's not restricted.
[Applying] to his head and hands, it's around four to four and a half hours. My key prosthetic applicators, Stuart Richards and Victoria Holt, plus two or three others, are darting around like a pit stop at some car show [Laughs]. Bill has nine prosthetic elements on his head, face, teeth, and eyes. Then he's got ten digits, plus the top and bottom hand prosthetics. Plus the blenders, which are another 28 pieces. So you can see how extreme that is just for that. They didn't ask for it, but I even made a tongue for the scene in the sarcophagus, which was this black, gritty, broken-down sock of a tongue.
Lastly, how do you hope audiences, especially those familiar with the original 1922 film, respond to your work?
David White: I hope they embrace it. It's not going to be like the original. They have to accept it for what it is because it's a twisted love story in some really weird way. I remember that scene where Ellen Hunter (Lily-Rose Depp) says, you cannot love, and she and Count Orlok are nose to nose, and I'm buying it. I'm not even interested in whether the prosthetics hold up. I'm not even concentrating because, to me, Count Orlok is a real character. If audiences can do the same and immerse themselves, please do.
NOSFERATU is now available on PVOD.