Nicholas Hoult had to work with 5,000 “incontinent” rats on ‘Nosferatu’
Robert Eggers’ latest film, Nosferatu, has been highly anticipated by film lovers, but viewers will have to bear witness to an ungodly amount of vermin. Actor Nicholas Hoult, who plays Thomas Hutter, has revealed that he had to do scenes with several thousand rats.
The movie is a remake of the silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, a classic German movie that has defined the canon of gothic cinema for decades. It was released in 1922, with Max Schreck playing Count Orlok, one of the most iconic villains of all time.
The silent film was based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula, but since the film crew did not secure official permission to adapt the story for the big screen, the characters received alternative names, which is why Count Dracula is known as Orlok or Nosferatu.
Bill Skarsgård plays the titular character in Eggers’ film, proving himself to be a capable horror villain after portraying Pennywise in IT several years ago. However, he had to push himself within his role as the chilling vampire by immersing himself in a coffin of rats.
Meanwhile, Hoult had to wade through thousands of rats during the filming of the same scene, recalling on The Graham Norton Show that there were “like 5,000 rats” in the room. “Some of them were trained as well. They were all trained, and I was like, ‘You couldn’t have trained all of them.’ There were certain pockets of them that were trained,” he continued.
The actor explained that to make matters worse, the rats didn’t exactly have the best manners. “And they were incontinent rats, so it was kinda stinky. I heard someone else say they were incontinent, it sounded smart. You’re right, they’re just rats. They just pee and poo anywhere. Luckily, I just had to wade through them.”
Eggers’ attempt at bringing the classic vampire story to life is one of many acclaimed cinematic takes, with Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola standing as popular versions of the tale. Nosferatu, which also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Emma Corrin has received widespread praise so far, although it is still yet to receive its theatrical release.
The movie will be released in cinemas on December 25th.
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