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Known for disappearing into his roles, Bill Skarsgård captivated audiences by transforming himself into a terrifying clown in It and a ruthless villain in John Wick. But he went even deeper to create the revenge-driven killer in this summer’s reimagining of The Crow and the monster in December’s Nosferatu.  By Madison Vain Photographs by Norman Jean Roy Styling

- Bill Mullen

Tank and pants by Rick Owens, available at Bergdorf Goodman; cuff and boots, available at the Cast NYC (worn throughout); necklace by Werkstatt: München (worn throughout).

DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO BELVEDERE CASTLE?"

 Bill Skarsgård and I have been walking for an hour and forty-seven minutes, winding our way aimlessly around Central Park on a moody New York City morning in April. Over the bridges, around the baseball fields, past the amphitheater, and through the nature sanctuary. Twice.

Now we're suddenly facing a middle-aged, brunette woman in workout clothes who's looking at us expectantly. Neither of us, however, has the faintest idea how to locate Belvedere Castle, a Central Park landmark and former lookout tower completed in 1872 and designed in the style of a miniature, well, castle.

Skarsgård freezes, leaving me to apologize to our fellow park walker for not knowing which way she should head. She hurries along, none the wiser about whom she just met. It's the first time we've interacted with any of the hundred or so people we've passed this morning. And while there is an inherent compliment in being asked for directions in Manhattan-who doesn't hope they pass for a New Yorker?-Skarsgård mainly just seems relieved that it wasn't a fan making an approach.

Skarsgård is obsessive when he works. "Usually, I'm like,