"It's Delightful to Not Hate the Movie" – 'Nosferatu' Is Robert Egger's Dream Project 10 Years in the Making

For 10 years, writer and director Robert Eggers has been working on his adaptation of Nosferatu, a project he spoke with Collider's Perri Nemiroff about shortly before The Witch hit theaters in 2016. His fascination with the material actually goes even further back (we're talking high school), so it's little wonder its theatrical release has the auteur feeling a little "vulnerable." But having already received critical acclaim, it's certainly a triumphant and inspiring look back at a time when a filmmaker like Eggers would say, "I think it seems very disgusting and presumptuous and megalomaniacal and offensive for someone in my position to say they want to do Nosferatu next."

In this interview, Eggers revisits a time when, rather than Bill Skarsgård, he himself played the sinister Count Orlok, back before he'd honed his skills with The Lighthouse and the "scope and scale of The Northman." He also reveals which Nosferatu character he most identifies with now and discusses the frame he's most proud of and how he knew the "raw and ferocious" Lily-Rose Depp was the perfect fit for his leading lady. You can watch their full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.

Before He Directed Bill Skarsgård, Robert Eggers Was Count Orlok

Somewhere, a home video must exist ...

PERRI NEMIROFF: Clearly I know this was a passion project that's been with you for many, many years, but I was a little surprised to read that the first time you adapted it was for a high school stage production. All of these years later, what would you say is the biggest similarity between that high school production and the finished film you ended up making?

ROBERT EGGERS: You know, the only thing that is really remarkably the same is some bits about the ending, so it's kind of a spoiler.

Fair enough.

EGGERS: So, I'll stay off that. But otherwise, they're quite different.

The way that our press notes phrased it was that you wanted to write and perform that stage adaptation. Does that mean you also wanted to act in it, as well?

EGGERS: I, embarrassingly, might have played Orlok.

Orlok! I was wondering which role you would go for.

EGGERS: Yes. I mean, in this version, I would try to play Von Franz.

That's what my guess was going to be. I'm sure you were a wonderful Orlok, too.

EGGERS: Sure. [Laughs]

'The Northman' Prepared Robert Eggers for 'Nosferatu' In "Scope and Scale"

"I've grown so much as a person and as a filmmaker."

The last time we spoke about this movie was nine years ago when you were promoting The Witch, and you've made two other phenomenal films since, The Lighthouse and The Northman. Having waited all this time, looking back, is there anything in particular that you know with certainty you were able to accomplish in Nosferatu that you can attribute to your experiences making those films first?

EGGERS: I mean, everything, really. I've just grown so much as a person and as a filmmaker. My collaboration with my creative department is so much stronger. We're more fluid. We're more extensions of each other. As much as this is my vision that I've been waiting 10 years to do, it's also become more of a collective vision. And certainly, particularly after the challenge and scope and scale of The Northman, I feel like I'm more facile at getting my imagination onto the screen. Not that I'm still not stretching myself and trying to go beyond myself and have more challenges that I want to reach for in the next film.

How Robert Eggers Knew Lily-Rose Depp Was Perfect for Ellen

The actress' fit for the role went beyond her audition.

You add a new collaborator to the mix this time around in Lily-Rose who is just jaw-droppingly phenomenal in this film. What is the very first thing you saw her do that made you stop and say, “You are the powerhouse lead I need for this film?”

EGGERS: I had seen some of her film work and I wanted to meet with her because I was interested. But as soon as we met, I thought she was probably the one. She really, really, really understood the script and my take on Ellen. She'd seen every major Dracula movie and some obscure ones, as well. She immediately brought up Zhukovsky and saw how that applied to what I was doing. Then she did an audition that was every bit as raw and ferocious as what she gives onscreen.

Willem used the word ferocious, too, and that is a perfect way to describe her in this film.

I apologize for asking this question because I'm essentially asking you to choose your favorite child, but I want to know, what is your single favorite frame of your movie?

EGGERS: I don't know, but I'm proud that the cemetery scene is super foggy and Gothic and gloomy with the skeletal trees and the black funeral clothing. Growing up with Hammer and Universal Horror and Roger Corman, that's how you want to make your cemetery seem.

I'll end with this question because, after all this time, you have completed a major passion project for yourself, and that's a big deal. How do you feel now having done it, and how does this experience change how you feel about yourself as a filmmaker and your goals for the future?

EGGERS: I mean, it's delightful to not hate the movie, I must admit. You feel vulnerable, which is okay. But obviously it's been a long time coming, and so I'm so glad to have it out there, but it does feel a little wild.

Nosferatu arrives in theaters on December 25.

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