Complex sentence: He took the role because he was a fan of Swank, and Hopkins' film "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (2004), and he preferred the thriller aspect of the "Reaping" script above the horror aspect.
Split into simpler sentences: He took the role because he was a fan of Swank, and Hopkins' film "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (2004). He liked the thriller aspect of the "Reaping" script above the horror aspect.