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.
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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.
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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”.
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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.
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