Nosferatu Count Orlok was almost played by these 3 actors before Bill Skarsgård

Daniel Day-Lewis as Count Dracula? In another world, director Robert Eggers' Nosferatu could have given us that.

“Nosferatu” stars silent film actor Max Schreck in his bald cap and pointy ears as the vampire Count Orlok. But in Eggers' new film “Nosferatu,” Orlok actor Bill Skarsgård doesn't look like that – or even himself.

Much like Skarsgård's performance as Pennywise in IT, he completely submits to the image, disappearing behind the make-up and (“Nosferatu”) echo effect on his voice. I wholeheartedly agree with /Film director Chris Evangelista that when you watch Skarsgård's Orlok, you don't feel like you're seeing a performance, but actual evil walking across the screen. In that way, it's the most fully populated villain performance I can remember since Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight.

Now, this may all sound like a backhanded compliment, considering that Skarsgård is just a stand-in while the makeup and sound design do the work. But I think it's a sign of humility and skillful restraint to see that most actors will want to own face on the screen, while Skarsgård buries his. Orlok's movements, body language and intonations are also Skarsgårds; the makeup is only so convincing because he slips into it so easily.

Skarsgård was originally cast as the film's heroic male lead, Thomas Hutter, who was replaced by Nicholas Hoult. I think it worked; they are both extremely handsome men, but Hoult has more of a boyish innocence (even if he's set to play Lex Luthor in James Gunn's Superman). Skarsgård, with his sharp features and big eyes, is more menacing.

If Skarsgård was played Hooter though, who would have been Orlok? Eggers' wish list reportedly included Day Lewis, Mads Mikkelsen and Willem Dafoe (who instead played the renamed Van Helsing, Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz).