SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
All right, I want to give a quick disclaimer before we start the next story. We have been hearing about the holidays. We'll go back to the holidays in a few minutes, but right now, we're going to do quite the pivot and talk about vampires - yes, vampires, specifically, one of the very first vampire movies, "Nosferatu."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DETROW: "Nosferatu," first released as a silent film in 1922, played a key role in creating the pop culture vampire lore that is still around today. The movie tells the story of the supernatural Transylvanian Count Orlok, who stalks a young woman and her social circle. More than 100 years later, "Nosferatu" is back on the screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOSFERATU")
LILY-ROSE DEPP: (As Ellen Hutter) He's coming.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Who is coming?
WILLEM DAFOE: (As Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz) Nosferatu.
DETROW: The buzzy remake stars big names like Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard, who plays Nosferatu. So what does this new movie do differently? And what does it add to vampire lore? To answer that question, we caught up with director Robert Eggers. He has been obsessed with "Nosferatu" since he was a kid, so much so, he did a version of it in high school.
ROBERT EGGERS: It changed my life. It cemented the fact that I wanted to be a director. And since then, "Nosferatu" has been - it may sound precious - but an important part of my identity as someone who's endeavoring to make creative work.
DETROW: Obviously, you've been thinking about this film for a really long time, and you've thought this is something you wanted to return to yourself. But at the same time, you said that you needed to convince yourself that the world needed another version of "Nosferatu." Tell me how those conversations went and what pushed you over the edge.
EGGERS: Yeah, it's not enough to be a dork and obsessed and possessed and all this (laughter).
DETROW: It is in some cases.
EGGERS: Yeah, but I felt like, you know, obviously, there's been a whole lot of "Draculas," and "Nosferatu" is such a seminal film. It kind of invented horror movies, even though it's not the first one. So doing your own adaptation, you are wrestling with your own hubris and lack of confidence as well. But basically, I started to write a novella to - so that I could really engage with this as I tried to write the script so that I could go deep into the characters and write a lot of scenes and backstories that I knew would not be in the final film but would give me sort of ownership of the world. And, you know, the two main differences between this and the Murnau film is centrally that I thought it would be more compelling if the - if we see the eyes through the female protagonist, through Ellen - through Lily-Rose Depp's character - and that would, you know, probably give us the ability to have the film be a lot more emotionally and psychologically complex.
And then, you know, in the sort of evolution of the cinematic vampire from Max Schreck to Edward Cullen, vampires have - are no longer scary. So I went back to the folklore that was written by people who actually believed that vampires actually existed. And the vampire of folklore is not a pale, suave, seductive aristocrat, but in fact, a rotting undead corpse. So then I asked myself, what would a dead Transylvanian nobleman actually look like and sound like and be like? And that's how we created our interpretation of the vampire for this film.
DETROW: You talked about the character Ellen before. And so much of this movie - it's the case with a lot of Victorian horror stories, but I feel like it's especially the case in this movie. There is so much of this movie of men just dismissing and saying, oh, you're crazy; you're neurotic; you're making this up. And she's obviously not. Can you talk to me about why that is such an important part of the story?
EGGERS: So Ellen in the Murnau film is described as a somnambulist, and sleepwalkers in the 19th century, even by a lot of medical doctors, were believed to have sort of insight into another realm, into the shadow side of the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOSFERATU")
DEPP: (As Ellen Hutter) Professor, my dreams grow darker. Does evil come from within us or from beyond?
EGGERS: And Ellen has this. And she feels this greatly, but she doesn't have any language to describe it. And she's misunderstood. You know, she has a husband that - you know, they love each other, but he doesn't see this side of her. And, as you say, he dismisses her. She's called melancholic, hysteric.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOSFERATU")
DEPP: (As Ellen Hutter) He stalks me in my dreams.
EGGERS: And unfortunately, the one person - in big fat quotes - that she can connect to with this dark side of herself and sensual side of herself is unfortunately a demon lover, is the vampire, Nosferatu.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOSFERATU")
DEPP: (As Ellen Hutter) Hear my call. Come to me.
EGGERS: So it turns this into a bit of a tragic love triangle and a tale of obsession.
DETROW: Was Bill Skarsgard your choice before "It" came out? Was this in the works before "It" came out or is this a post-"It" decision?
EGGERS: In the beginning, Bill was cast as the romantic lead, as the Hutter/Harker character that is now portrayed by Nicholas Hoult.
DETROW: Oh, interesting.
EGGERS: But when I saw "It Chapter Two," there is a scene where Bill plays Pennywise as a man, not as a clown, as a middle-aged man, and there was a lot of depth and darkness. And it just - it was really heavy, and I really believed him. And I called Bill up and said, you know, I think you can play Orlok.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOSFERATU")
BILL SKARSGARD: (As Count Orlok) You will remain and well rest yourself.
NICHOLAS HOULT: (As Thomas Hutter) I must object, my lord.
SKARSGARD: (As Count Orlok) You will obey this, my counsel.
DETROW: Was that a long conversation or was that a short conversation?
EGGERS: I mean, we - basically, I said, you know, but we have to do a screen test. We have to prove it 'cause it is such a big departure. I mean, it's been wild to do press because Bill plays this, you know, dead 55-year-old who looks nothing like him, sounds nothing like him. And I'm walking around with this, you know, baby-faced Bill Skarsgard all the time. It's very jarring. But yes, I gave him some Soviet movies with some scary Balkan villains with very low voices, and he would send me recordings of a voice that he was working on. And I would give him notes, and - yeah, then he did this screen test that was just undeniable, you know?
DETROW: I'm just picturing voice memos going back and forth of Nosferatu voice, that's - yeah.
EGGERS: Well, you know, it's - that's - this is our job.
DETROW: Yeah.
EGGERS: How lucky are we that we get to play, you know? I mean, it is - that's the cool thing about this is that, you know, it's - when you're in the rehearsal room, even with Willem Dafoe, you know, it feels the same as high school. I don't necessarily mean that play that I did happened to be "Nosferatu." I just mean that, like, this is what we get to do for a living in this business. It's incredible.
DETROW: I want to end by zooming out and talking more broadly about vampires. Curious what you think about this - do you think, like, our broader cultural obsession has faded a little since the "True Blood"/"Twilight" days, or do you think that's something that's still a key part of our culture?
EGGERS: I don't think it's ever going to go away, you know? I mean, obviously, it's easy to be like, well, vampires will never die. But I think that that is true, and also the vampires are so malleable. Like, obviously, given I have a sort of obsession with trying to create historical accuracy in my films, which is a fool's errand and an impossibility, but it is the thing that gives me clarity of vision and collective vision with everyone that I'm working with. So obviously, the folk vampire is very exciting to me. But, you know, there is room for "Blade," and there's room for Anne Rice and Count Chocula, and The Count on "Sesame Street." You know, there's room for all these vampires, and I think that, you know, even if there is, like, a brief pause of all - of a lot of vampire stuff, it will always come back. You know, it's just cyclical.
DETROW: Robert Eggers is director of "Nosferatu," which is in theaters on Christmas. Thanks so much for talking to us.
EGGERS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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