Nicholas Hoult got more of Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok than anyone could have bargained on (Picture: Universal Pictures)
It’s one of the most iconic images in all of horror cinema – Count Orlok rising from his coffin, thirsty for blood.
And, with his remake of 1922 classic Nosferatu, director Robert Eggers has put his own spin on the scene – letting it all hang loose as Nicholas Hoult’s mild-mannered real estate agent comes face-to-face (and penis) with the Count.
Not your mother’s Nosferatu, then, and Eggers’ remake uses this updated take on the tale to bring its adult themes to the forefront, exploring a patriarchal fear of the female orgasm and upping both the sex and the gore.
As Count Orlok, It star Bill Skarsgård is unrecognisable – buried beneath a hefty moustache and mountain of prosthetics to terrorise poor Thomas Hutter and his wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp).
Orlok’s impressive makeover includes the already-infamous prosthetic penis, which can be seen during Thomas’s early confrontation with the Count.
And, as a famished Orlok chowed down on the petrified estate agent, Skarsgård’s prosthetic wouldn’t be restrained.
Nicholas Hoult stars as estate agent Thomas Hutter (Picture: AP)
Bill Skarsgård plays a very different kind of Count Orlok. Not pictured: dong (Picture: Universal Pictures)
In an interview with US Weekly, the film’s creative team have revealed how Nicholas found himself quite intimate with the prop appendage.
‘With Thomas, they had a scene where Orlok was sucking his blood and the penis kept rubbing on his leg and he didn’t know how to react to him,’ said lead makeup designer Traci Loader.
‘I don’t think you’ll forget that moment,’ joked the film’s hair department head, Suzanne Stokes-Munton.
‘No, that will live on forever!’ agreed Traci.
Lily-Rose Depp stars as Thomas’s wife, Ellen (Picture: AP)
Star Nicholas has something to remember the incident by too – the duplicate dong itself.
‘I have Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis framed at home,’ he said during a recent interview with Elle.
‘There’s a scene where Bill Skasrgard is slurping my blood, and Robert Eggers asked afterward, “How was that for you?” And I said, I could feel his prosthetic penis on my leg”.
‘And then, as a wrap gift, Rob got it framed, and he sent it to my house.’
Bill Skarsgård plays the ancient bloodsucker (Picture: Getty Images)
However, the Johnson’s journey didn’t end there – as Nicholas was forced to answer a series of questions when he took it to be re-framed at a local shop.
‘The frame had broken so I had to take it to the local frame shop and I had to be like “Hey dude, can you fix this?”
‘Then, when I went back to pick it up, I think he’d clocked like how weird it was that I was framing potentially this vampire penis, and he was like, “Is this some kind of collector’s piece?” And I was like, “Hm, you could say that.”‘
Long live the lovelength!
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