Nosferatu star Bill Skarsgård is interested in playing the Joker: "I think that would be pretty sick"

Bill Skarsgård at the Nosferatu London premiere
(Image credit: Getty Images / Mike Marsland)

Nosferatu star Bill Skarsgård may be well known for playing Pennywise in the It movies, but he's interested in playing another clown: the Joker.

"I was, like, a Batman kid. Batman was my superhero growing up," the actor said during a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

When asked if he'd rather play Batman or Joker at this point in his career, he joked, "Maybe both," before continuing, "I don't know, man. I think there'd be a fucking cool Joker in me, probably, somewhere. I think that would be pretty sick."

Skarsgård then revealed that Heath Ledger is his favorite Joker. Watching his performance in The Dark Knight as a teenager and aspiring actor, Skarsgård added that "he represented everything that I wanted to be." The role was most recently taken on in live-action by Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux.

Andy Muschietti, who Skarsgård previously worked with on It and It Chapter Two, is on board to direct a new Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold, for James Gunn's DCU Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. Skarsgård remained vague on the topic, though, saying, "I don't know exactly where he is with it."

Skarsgård is currently playing the titular vampire in Nosferatu, directed by The Northman helmer Robert Eggers, alongside a cast that also includes Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Emma Corrin.

Nosferatu is out now in theaters. For more, check out our picks of the best upcoming movies on the way in 2025 and our guide to the new year's biggest movie release dates at a glance.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. 

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