Twenty-three years ago, Willem Dafoe played actor Max Schreck in the film Shadow of the Vampire, which gave a behind-the-scenes look at the making of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE) to reveal that Schreck really was a vampire. Now Dafoe has a role in The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers‘ remake of Nosferatu – but he’s not playing the title role. Instead, he’s playing a “crazy vampire hunter” named Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, and Entertainment Weekly has just unveiled an interesting image that shows Dafoe in character! You can check it out at the bottom of this article.
An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
Dafoe is joined in the Nosferatu cast by Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol) as Ellen Hutter and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) as her husband Thomas, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) as Thomas’s friend Friedrich Harding, Emma Corrin (The Crown) as Friedrich’s wife Anna, Ralph Ineson (The Witch) as Von Franz’s cohort Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, and Bill Skarsgard (It), who plays the title character, Count Orlok. Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2) is also in the cast.
Eggers told Entertainment Weekly that Von Franz is a character he loves and relates to – and notes that Dafoe shared the picture scene with real flames and 2000 real rats.
Are you looking forward to seeing Dafoe bring his character to life in Nosferatu? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and take a look at the image while you’re scrolling down.
Focus Features will be giving Nosferatu a theatrical release on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, “making it a prime holiday season release.”
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