What’s 19th century Germany without a few furry friends, huh? For his latest dark tale, writer/director Robert Eggers has put his own spin on the classic vampiric lore “Nosferatu” and employed thousands of real rats to do so. Speaking in a recent interview with Deadline, one of the stars of the film, Emma Corrin discussed what it was like acting opposite a field of rodents and how it’s not something they’d like to try again.
“Thirty of them were on my bare chest,” said Corrin. “Honestly, I was being very brave about it. I was very much stoic, being very British about it, really. And then we were in the scene, and I had no top on, and it was just horrible. The smell is something that you can’t imagine. And the incontinence was a thing that I really didn’t expect, but was terrible… It was grim. And yeah, they loved my hair, so they would go and sit in the wig and get all up in my face. Do you watch ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!?’ You know when they had to put their hand in the box with the tarantulas? It was a bit like that, I won’t lie.”
Co-star Nicholas Hoult had his own experience dealing with these difficult scene partners and decided to make the best of it by having fun with some of his fellow players, including Bill Skarsgård, who plays the blood-thirsty creature Count Orlok.
“I remember when I was opening the casket, and Bill’s laying in there, and there were rats in there, so he was locked in there with rats and I was like, ‘I’m going to keep getting this wrong, so he has to do it more and more,’” Hoult said. “When we first burst into that room, there were the 5,000 rats, and then they were almost like a carpet. Rat rugs. That’s what I’ll be selling on my Etsy store.”
While this may be a laughing matter for the cast and production team, a few out there are taking it rather seriously. In a letter sent to IndieWire and other publications, PETA came out against the use of real rats in “Nosferatu” and the film’s implication that they were responsible for the bubonic plague, when it was in fact human beings who caused its spread.
“A human is no more likely to be harmed or killed by a rat in real life than by a vampire, and false portrayals of these animals as harbingers of death deny viewers the chance to see them as the intelligent, social, and affectionate individuals they are,” said Lauren Thomasson, PETA’s Director of Animals in Film and Television. “The only ‘pests’ moviegoers need to be concerned with are directors who subject animals to the chaos and confusion of a film set, and PETA encourages everyone to see through these shameful stereotypes and give rats the respect they deserve.”
As response, PETA has decided to protest an upcoming screening of “Nosferatu” for Academy Members at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday. They plan to bring a giant PETA “rat” in an effort to amplify their message to those who may otherwise help “Nosferatu” find awards glory. For those who still wish to attend the screening, bringing a piece of cheese might not be a bad idea.
Focus Features releases “Nosferatu” in theaters on December 25.
