“It’’ was enough to give you the shocks and thrills of your life. The scary supernatural flick based on famous horror fiction writer Stephen King’s book by the same name creeped out movie fans worldwide and like the nun in Conjuring II, this too had its signature demon which many feel turned out more terrifying. Pennywise the clown has well and truly cemented the face of a clown as devilish and demonic instead. The character is enough to make people throw out their clown dolls and is easily a reason to give you nightmares. Incidentally, IT is going on to become one the highest grossing horror movies of all time as well as the second highest grossing R rated film of all time after Deadpool.
The success of the fright quotient of Pennywise owes a lot to the man who played the character Bill Skarsgard and his looks are in sharp contrast to what one would stereotype the looks of an actor playing an evil clown. He is really good looking and you will definitely know his father. Here are 12 facts about Bill Skarsgard who plays Pennywise the clown.
Does the name sound familiar?? Yes he is the son of none other than famous Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard who plays Bootstrap Bill in The Pirates of the Caribbean and Professor Eric Selvig in the “Avengers” and “Thor”.
Bill is 27 years old and was born in Sweden. His mother is Stellan Skarsgard’s first wife Sonja Marie Agnes. All of Bill’s seven siblings are actors among whom you may recognize his younger brother Gustaf who played Floki in the History Channel’s TV series “Vikings” 2013. Bill is new to Hollywood and was seen in Atomic Blonde alongside Charlize Theron and James Mcavoy.
Image Source: www.comingsoon.net
Bill was constantly bullied at school because of his famous actor father. Bullies purposely picked on him accusing him of being privileged. Bill narrated his ordeal in an interview saying that people would abuse him for being Stellan Skarsgard’s son. He felt it made bullies feel good in saying ‘This guy didn't get any of this because he actually deserved it—he just got it for free.'"
Image Source: www.tumblr.com
As Pennywise, this isn’t Bill’s first foray into horror movies. He has acted as Roman Godfrey in all three seasons of the popular Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove. However, it is definitely going to be Pennywise who will make Bill famous.
Image Source: www.idntimes.com
He has a major in science because he felt it would lead him to become a doctor, a biologist or an engineer. At the time he was unsure of his choice of career and thus chose science for its scope of offering a choice of careers. However, since he started acting in 2000, he felt he found his goal in life.
Image Source: www.collider.com
His first major role was in the 2010 Swedish film Simple Simon playing a man with Asperger's syndrome. He was nominated for the Guldbagge award which is the Swedish equivalent of an Oscar. His first major American film was Allegiant of the Divergent series where played the role of Matthew.
Image Source: www.altfg.com
Skarsgard admitted that the intensity of the character Pennywise was so terrifying that even Kids who visited the set started crying. “On set, I wasn't very friendly or goofy," he said. "I tried to maintain some sort of weirdness about the character, at least when I was in all the makeup”.
He went on to say how some parents brought their kids as extras and when he came out as Pennywise, he was so terrifying that some of them started shaking and crying. It was then that the director even decided to do a take. ‘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 s***. What am I doing? What is this? This is horrible."
Image Source: www.digitalcine.fr
The evil smile of Pennywise the clown was achieved with help from brother Gustaf. Bill revealed how his brother Gustaf had the ability to point his lip in a certain strange way and that’s what he taught bill to do.
Image Source: www.squarespace.com
Bill auditioned for pennywise by coming in full character and complete makeup. His makeup was put in by his girlfriend and he drove through Hollywood dressed as Pennywise the clown. He later said in an interview, “I was like, this is really humiliating—the epitome of the Auditioning Actor in L.A. But I'm happy I stuck with it."
The director Andres Muschietti admitted how Bill Skarsgard had perfected a balance between a childlike feature and a disturbing intense look. In fact, he also revealed how he told Skarsgard that he may need him to have his eyes looking in different directions when Skarsgard replied, 'Oh, I can do that'—and he actually did it in from of Muschietti.
Image Source: www.cdnds.net
Not all of Pennywise’ mannerisms and scary features was due to his own prowess in acting. He prepared extensively for the part and was made to undergo several tests such as for costume and makeup. He was even made to take coaching classes from a clown coach.
Image Source: www.thethingsimages.com
Perhaps it might have been a fantastic move to skip from the original choice for Pennywise to Bill Skarsgard because he has undoubtedly left a lasting impression on fans worldwide. In 2015, the movie was initially directed by Cary Fukunaga of True Detective (2015) and Jane Eyre (2011) fame. Fukunaga chose Will Poulter ( he acted as Eustace in Chronicles of Narnia, voyage of the dawn treader) to star as Pennywise. But when Fukunaga left the project and Andy Muschietti was brought in, the director replaced Poulter with Skarsgard.
Muschietti revealed that it was Poulter who wanted to remove and distance himself from the character that he found too dark and sinister. He expressed a desire to disengage from the character and leave the project.
Image Source: www.express.co.uk
It takes a lot of talent as well as emotional and mental intensity playing a psychopathic character. To play Pennywise is no less terrifying especially for actors who really get into the skin of the character. Skarsgard finished reading Stephen King’s IT in ten days and revealed he even listened to the audio reading of it. It wasn’t very tough getting into the nature of the character but getting out of it was the problematic part. It left him disoriented when he went home to Stockholm Sweden after filming was over.
In his own words. “It was very strange, it was almost like a really slow exorcism to completely let go of him." He also revealed that for two weeks he had constant nightmares’ about Pennywise and realized how strong an impact his character made on him. "The closest thing I can liken it to be being in a very destructive relationship, because you never really realize you're in one until you're out. And then as soon as you're out of it, you're like, 'Oh my God, I can see it all so clearly now.' Doing characters is almost like being in a relationship with a made-up person, and you don't really see the journey clearly until it's over”.
Image Source: www.yimg.com
According to the story of IT, the creature Pennywise appears every 27 years in the town of Derry. The present adaptation of IT was released exactly 27 years after the 1990 miniseries starring Tim Curry. Bill Skarsgard is 27 years old.
Image Source: www.twimg.com
Top 15 Celebrities Body Transformations For A Movie Role That Stunned The World
15 Hollywood Celebrities Who Fell In Love and Married Their Fans