James McAvoy admits that Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise “freaked” him out on theIT: Chapter 2set. Skarsgard was initially a little worried about working with adults on the highly anticipated sequel, noting that he was separated from the child stars in the first installment to maximize his frightening image. However, the actor came to enjoy working with the adult cast of the Losers' Club and it appears that he was just as good at scaring the grownups as he was the children.
In a new interview promoting the upcoming release ofGlass,James McAvoywas asked about his work onIT 2. The actor joked around about the title and then revealed that Bill Skarsgard is a scary Pennywise the Dancing Clown without the help of CGI. McAvoy wasn’t the only one who was scared of Skarsgard on the set. He explains.
“He’s amazing. Theguy who plays the clown is terrifying. He’s a lovely guy, and yet he really freaked me out. I remember standing there with the rest of the cast, all these adults, and we’d all done weird freaky stuff. And we are all looking at each other going, I don’t like being here. I don’t like being an actor today. He really did, he really freaked me out. I never liked clowns as a kid.”
While many horror fans were skeptical ofAndres Muschietti’s big screen adaptationof Stephen King’sIT, word of mouth started to spread and it soon went on to become the highest grossing R-rated horror movie in history. The movie is a lot different from the iconic 1990 miniseries, but it was able to attract new and old fans, which might have a lot to do with the way that Bill Skarsgard approached his role. The actor tried to do something different from what Tim Curry did and he ended up making something that is original and terrifying.
Bill Skarsgard did such a good job onITthatprofessional clowns started to get angrybecause he was giving them a bad name. However, there are plenty of adults and children that have a fear of clowns that has nothing to do with Stephen King’s creation. Now, withIT 2on the way, the clown industry might be heading for another temporary roadblock. It will be interesting to see how the clown community responds to the highly anticipated sequel.
IT 2hitstheaters on September 6th, which will be here before we know it. Production has been wrapped for a bit now, which means that the promotional campaign will more than likely start this spring, giving us a look at the return of Pennywise and the adult members of the Losers' Club. While we wait for that to happen, you can watch the new interview with James McAvoy over atGood Morning America.
