Bill Skarsgård took on the lead role of Eric Draven in Rupert Sanders’ remake of ‘The Crow’ 1994. The film followed Eric as he transformed into a superhero to avenge the death of his girlfriend, Shelly, played by FKA Twigs.
Skarsgård delved into his character in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the reboot’s world premiere at New York’s Village East by Angelika.
“I feel like he’s a fragile individual when you meet him, someone that’s almost given up on life and surely given up on himself,” he said. “So, getting to perform that, and then him finding Shelly and falling madly in love with her and how he projects onto her this kind of saving angel.”
“And then when he loses her, what he’s willing to do for her. It’s kind of the beautiful archetypal story about what people do for love, and he’s commendable that way, I think, Eric as a character — very generous.”
‘The Crow’ faced criticism since the first look photos and the trailer came out, with viewers commenting on the casting, makeup, and costume. But Sanders shared his satisfaction with the decisions by saying, “Bill is really a very acclaimed actor and had such an amazing physicality.”
“He’s such a beautiful, empathetic man, but also, he’s capable of this terrifying side to him that he likes to bring out, and he kind of relishes that,” the director explained to THR. “Twigs is just an otherworldly, magical person, and I really wanted this vacuum to be left when Shelley died in the movie, that the audience really went on that journey with Eric to try and get her back.”
The new adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic book series opened to generally negative reviews this week and received a 24% approval rate from critics on Rotten Tomatoes so far.
Filmmakers reportedly changed the original ending to leave the door open for a sequel, but Lionsgate hasn’t confirmed any plans yet.
