Robert Eggers on Nosferatu’s most surprising personal style choice

One of the most secret elements about Robert Eggers‘ Nosferatu– a reimagining of the silent film from which it famously took its plot Dracula– what is Count Orlok it would look like. Before the movie hit theaters, marketing materials only showed Bill Skarsgård’s vampire in silhouette or shadow. Discussions were held about it how terrible character would appear on screen, but now that the film is out, the audience is also paying attention to the surprising grooming option.

Obviously… it’s a mustache!

in a spoiler-y interview DiversityEggers was asked why Count Orlok had such different facial hair. As is often the case with this writer-director, he began while doing extensive pre-production research.

“I went back to folklore to try to create a more frightening vampire than we’ve had in a long time,” he said. “It’s something I like anyway, but the first folk vampire was written by people who believed vampires existed. Good things would happen there, and the vampire of folklore is a rotting, walking dead corpse.

It’s “What does a dead Transylvanian nobleman look like?” he explained with his question.

From there, Eggers said, he figured it meant “this elaborate Hungarian costume with very long sleeves and weird high heels and a feathered hat.” It also means moustache. Whatever it is, there’s no way this guy has a mustache. Try to find an old man from Transylvania who can grow a moustache. It’s part of the culture. If you don’t want to bother Googling, consider Vlad the Impaler. Even Bram Stoker thought of putting a mustache on Dracula in the book.

So there you have it: it’s a culturally relevant choice – one that, as you can see, other characters in the film, including Willem Dafoe’s Professor Von Franz, also considered when Stoker was working on the 1897 novel. it all started.

Nosferatu it’s in theaters now.

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