Bill Skarsgård has earned a reputation as a master of the macabre. He got his clown as the petrifying Pennywise It films; has doused himself in black and blood for this year’s remake The crow; played a ruthless video game-style assassin Boy kills world; was the sharply dressed villain of John Wick: Chapter 4; and even appeared in a twisty horror thriller Barbarian (Although, to be fair, he was just a pretty nice guy in that regard). But his latest role tops them all, as he portrays one of the darkest shadow dwellers of all time – Count Orlok, in Robert Eggers’ reimagining of Nosferatu.

But could the gothic vampire film lead to Skarsgård finally hanging up his horror boots? “When we finished it, I thought, ‘I never want to play something that bad again.’ “I never want to wear prosthetics again,” he says Richin our world exclusive new Captain America: Brave New World Output. The fact that the shooting was over “was a relief,” he says. “It really touched me. Orlok is an occult wizard, and just trying to inhabit that space has done a lot for me.”

Skarsgård devoted himself entirely to the Count, disappearing into layers of prosthetics and even working with an opera singer to lower his voice a full octave to make the iconic vampire as menacing and otherworldly as possible. “The voice was what I worked hardest on,” he says. “In the month and a half before filming, I didn’t do much other than record myself. And on set I continued doing these exercises. It sounds a bit like Mongolian throat singing. It’s (crazy).” Once he’s done with horror, perhaps throat singing could be Skarsgård’s next venture? We’ll keep you updated.

Read our full interview with Bill Skarsgård Nosferatu In RichThe worldwide exclusive edition of Captain America: Brave New World will be available on Thursday, December 19th. Pre-order a copy online here.