There’s no denying that Bill Skarsgård knows how to play creepy really well. He truly took the public by storm with his performance as Stephen King’s terrifying clown from It -- Pennywise. Since then, Skarsgård has been able to play another scary figure, including one in Robert Eggers' Nosferatu. Today, the Swedish actor actually credits his Pennywise stint for the way it's impacted his career and approach to other roles.
Fans have seen Bill Skarsgård play a human in projects like Hemlock Grove, Castle Rock and Barbarian. But, when The Crow actor plays otherworldly creatures, it can be truly unsettling. In Robert Eggers' aforementioned remake that critics are calling “horrifically brilliant,” Skarsgård sinks his own teeth into Transylvanian vampire Count Orlok. In his interview with EW, the Atomic Blonde actor got real about having to transform into the menacing count. From there, he explained how It changed the course of his career:
I, too, think about my career in every aspect of it if I hadn't done Pennywise. I've approached characters very differently ever since I did the first It movie. In terms of the prosthetics, that is, in a lot of ways, a very superficial part of the job. It is something that's on top of the surface. In terms of creating something that is incredibly abstract and so far away from what I am as a person, Pennywise was the biggest [at the time]. I think Orlok is an even bigger leap.
It appears that playing Derry’s malevolent entity broke the ice for Bill Skarsgård as far as playing transformative roles goes. While wearing such heavy prosthetics can help with the physical transformation process, an actor still needs to know how to mentally separate themself from the role. It sounds like the John Wick 4 actor learned from Pennywise how to take his real-life self out of a given character.
You’d never know when first looking at It’s Pennywise that it's Bill Skarsgård underneath all of that extreme face paint. The talented actor brought a fresh perspective to the Stephen King character by adding his own creepy components. For example, he did this freaky non-CGI trick with his eyes to make them cross and uncross and came up with Pennywise’s smile based on the fun he had scaring his little brother. I love that the scary role not only helped boost the actor's career but also impacted his decision to take on other dark roles.
On that note, playing Count Orlok in Nosferatu was an entirely different story for Bill Skarsgård as the vampire character even “terrified” him. After all, the Nine Days actor himself is far different from a centuries-old vampire obsessed with a young woman. Initially, Skarsgård couldn’t help but compare his Nosferatu transformation to Pennywise, considering the prosthetics. Additionally, the Anna Karenina actor worked with an opera coach to learn how to roll those Rs like a Transylvanian in a low vocal register. Talk about commitment.
Now, after playing the scary vampiric character, Bill Skarsgård says he never wants to play “something this evil again” because of the dark places he had to inhabit mentally. Interestingly, after playing Pennywise, the star had horrific dreams about the body-shifting entity as well. So it goes without saying that portraying these kinds of characters aren't easy, but they can truly allow an actor like Skarsgård to challenge themselves. I'm hoping the A-lister isn't done with such roles for good.
For now, check out the actor's work in the 2024 movie release Nosferatu, which is now playing in theaters. You can also grab a Max subscription to stream It Chapters One and Two to see his turn as Pennywise, who the actor will reprise in the upcoming prequel series Welcome to Derry.
