{"id":97662,"date":"2024-12-04T02:56:29","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T02:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=263127"},"modified":"2024-12-04T02:56:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T02:56:29","slug":"lily-rose-depp-nosferatu-movie","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/lily-rose-depp-nosferatu-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Arts: Lily-Rose Depp Trained In Japanese Absurdist Dance for \u2018Nosferatu\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 23: Lily-Rose Depp attends “The Idol” photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 23, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki\/FilmMagic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Eggers\u2019 Nosferatu<\/a>, <\/em>a terrifying reimagining of F.W. Murnau\u2019s 1922 silent classic, is quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of 2024, with many critics praising Lily-Rose Depp for giving the performance of her career. And as it turns out, her haunting physical portrayal is credited to some highly-specific training.<\/p>\n

In the film, Depp<\/a> plays Ellen Hutter, a young woman whose loneliness and nascent sexuality become the unwitting lure for the vampiric Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd. An almost telepathic bond is made, and as Depp’s character slowly succumbs to these supernatural forces, horrors ensue for all those in their wake, including her husband Thomas, played by Nicholas Hoult<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike her friend Anna [played by Emma Corrin<\/a>], Ellen cannot, or will not, conceal her sexual desires,\u201d Eggers tells Deadline<\/em><\/a> in a new interview. \u201cThe vampire seems to hear some internal cry in her and targets her as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n

To capture Orlok’s intensifying possession, Depp was required to embody his demonic thrall over her, which physically called for the actress to arch and contort her body most unnaturally without any cinematic effects. For this, the director enlisted the expertise of Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, a choreographer known for her work in Japanese Butoh<\/em>, an avant-garde form of theatre that translates to \u201cdance of utter darkness\u201d\u2014\u2014an art form that is about as conventional as it sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cButoh<\/i>\u00a0was something that I was familiar with,\u201d Eggers says. \u201cI had worked with Marie-Gabrielle and [choreographer] Denise Fujiwara on\u00a0The Witch<\/i>, and so I had a basic understanding of it and knew that it would have many of the tools to do this stuff. So, some things became more demonic possession, but the starting place was with Marie-Gabrielle Rotie.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director also explored the work of 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and his findings on so-called ‘hysteria’. \u201cCharcot got an artist in to do engravings of his idea of every hysterical pose that his patients made for different reasons, and so we were able to use that as a roadmap to how we would orchestrate the dynamics of her character through all those different scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lily-Rose Depp in ‘Nosferatu’ \/ Image: Focus Features, Universal Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And the work seems to have paid off, with Depp’s modern rendering of Ellen leaving critics floored.<\/p>\n

As the actress explained to Deadline<\/em><\/a>, it was a palpable sense of suppression, particularly given the film’s time setting, that she sought to tap into.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re talking about a time period where there was a lot less room for women and girls to be much of anything except for exactly what people wanted them to be,” said Depp of her character. “I think you feel that in Ellen, and you feel like the birth of all these new feelings, and she doesn\u2019t really have anybody to talk to about it, or anybody to understand her \u2026 I think it\u2019s a real source of shame for her, and one that she\u2019s trying to come to terms with, and that\u2019s what I think is so beautiful about her relationship with Von Franz, Willem [Dafoe]\u2019s character, because he sees her in this way and understands her, I think, in a way that she longs to be understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masterfully balancing the fragility and ferocity demanded of the role, Eggers explained that the actress’ poignant audition left those in the room awe-struck. \u201cShe was incredibly brave, raw, and powerful,\u201d he recalled. \u201cMyself, the casting director, and even the videographer were in tears. She reached this dark, haunted place so quickly\u2014it was remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, Nosferatu<\/em>, in all its sleepless horror, is a story about innate desire and the societal chains that seek to bind it, themes uniquely explored in Eggers’ retelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly in the 1980s, there was a lot of literary criticism talking about all these Victorian male authors who created these female heroines who have sexual desire and sexual energy, and then need to be killed and punished for that,\u201d Eggers explained to the publication. \u201cIt\u2019s this misogynist thing. But I think a lot of female literary critics who I was also reading were saying, \u2018But isn\u2019t it also interesting that, from this repressed cultural period, there\u2019s the idea of this dark, chthonic female heroine who would be the person who could understand the depths?\u2019 And in telling that same kind of story in a modern context, even trying to stay through the lens of the 19th century, we could have potentially some more nuance there, potentially, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the trailer (if you dare) for Nosferatu, out December 25, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n