Critics have called Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu a wide variety of adjectives, including“cryptic, beautiful, and unsettling.” CinemaBlend's Nosferatu review even calls it "bloody" and "sexy." But I haven't heard the word "hilarious" up until this point. Despite how chilling the actual upcoming horror film is, there are still behind-the-scenes moments that easily gave the cast and crew a good laugh. One of the film’s leads, Nicholas Hoult, recently talked about taking home Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis and the hilarious story behind going to a shop and getting it framed.
Knowing how terrifying Nosferatu should be on the big screen, finding humor in the horror remake might make it easier for you to approach your seat. If you want to hear a really funny behind-the-scenes story from Hoult’s time making the 2024 movie release, he told his co-star, Lily-Rose Depp, in an Elle video the one prop/wardrobe piece he’s taken from the Nosferatu set. Yes, it was that prosthetic penis:
I have Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis framed at home. There's a scene where Bill Skarsgård is slurping my blood, and Robert Eggers asked afterward, ‘How was that for you?’ The director asked, 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.
Well, I suppose it would definitely be a memorable prop to remind him of the days a Transylvanian vampire sucked his blood. Fortunately for us, the story gets weirder from there.
It wasn’t enough for Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis to be in its natural form. The special prop piece had an actual frame, which the actor says later broke. This meant he legitimately had to take the Nosferatu prop to again be framed in all of its glory and this is when the additional hilarity ensued:
The frame had broken when it got [to my house], so I had to take it to the local frame shop and I had to be like, ‘Hey, dude, can you fix this?’ He kind of didn’t even blink the first time, and then when I went back to pick it up, I think he had clocked how weird it was, what I was framing, potentially, like, this vampire penis. He was like, ‘Is this some kind of collector’s piece?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, you could say that.’
To note, the transformation of Bill Skarsgård becoming Count Orlok was intense and even left the Barbarian actor more “terrified” than when he played It’s Pennywise. He admitted being afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get into character with all of the prosthetic pieces on him. The fact that the horrifying vampire even had a prosthetic penis shows what dedication they put into the character’s appearance. Considering the cast of Nosferatu called Skarsgård’s character “one of the most terrifying things” they ever saw, it seems clear the Swedish actor’s trend of playing these sorts of roles paid off once again. With advertisements not even showing the vampire character’s face, the mystery surrounding Count Orlok’s appearance has only grown my (alarmed) anticipation.
It’s sure a collector’s piece now. I'm truly curious about what the prosthetic penis looks like hanging in The Great actor’s house. It’s nice to know that Hoult looking at that low-hanging prop piece should bring him humor compared to any blood-curling trauma he endured for our entertainment this holiday season.
