It has been 27 years since the mini-series adaptation of Steven King’s It frightened fans across the States when it was released in 1990. In this latest remake of the film, director Andres Muschietti desired to cast the nemesis, Pennywise, with an actor who could capture the clown’s child-like yet menacing nature. That was a huge factor in the decision to cast Bill Skarsgård.
Swedish native Bill Skarsgård appeared in films White Water Fury (2000), Simple Simon (2010), Allegiant (2016), Atomic Blonde (2017), and Assassination Nation (2017). In addition, Skarsgård appeared in horror Netflix series Hemlock Grove (2013); however, this will be Bill Skarsgård’s first appearance in a major horror film. So far, the reactions to the new Pennywise has been a positive one.
In Interview Magazine, Bill Skarsgård states that he brought the scare effect on set of It: “On set, I wasn't very friendly or goofy. I tried to maintain some sort of weirdness about the character, at least when I was in all the makeup. At one point, they set up this entire scene, and these kids come in, and none of them have seen me yet. Their parents have brought them in, these little extras, right?
And then I come out as Pennywise, and these kids—young, normal kids—I saw the reaction that they had. Some of them were really intrigued, but some couldn't look at me, and some were shaking. This one kid started crying. He started to cry and the director yelled, "Action!" And when they say "action," I am completely in character. So some of these kids got terrified and started to cry in the middle of the take, and then I realized, "Holy shit. What am I doing? What is this? This is horrible."
The film is set to be released on September 8, 2017. With its R rating and Skarsgård cast as Pennywise, there should be more than enough scares to go around.
