Bill Skarsgard Was Just As Creepy Without The Pennywise Makeup
What is it that makes so many people scared of clowns? Is it their greasy white face paint? The way they talk? Whatever it is, a lot of people just can't handle it.
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00:00 What is it that makes so many people scared of clowns?
00:03 Is it their greasy white face paint?
00:05 The way they talk?
00:06 Whatever it is, a lot of people just can't handle it.
00:09 "In the field of local, live, home entertainment, oh my God!"
00:14 "Get in your mouse and get out of here."
00:18 Clowns have become a staple of the horror genre, thanks to works like Stephen King's
00:21 It.
00:22 Written in 1986, the novel centers on Pennywise the Dancing Clown, an ancient, shape-shifting
00:28 creature that emerges from hibernation every 27 years to feed upon the unsuspecting children
00:34 of Derry, Maine.
00:35 Four years after its publication, King's book was famously turned into a TV miniseries starring
00:40 Tim Curry as Pennywise.
00:42 In the hands of the Rocky Horror Picture Show icon, the character was funny, outlandish,
00:47 and more than a little disturbing, even when he wasn't snacking on kids.
00:50 "Take your pick."
00:51 "B-B-Bin."
00:52 "Billy boy."
00:56 Suffice it to say, Curry left some big shoes to fill when King's story made the jump to
00:59 the silver screen with what would become the first of two movies based on his novel in
01:04 2017.
01:05 The film's director, Andy Muschietti, ultimately entrusted Bill SkarsgÄrd with the job of
01:10 portraying the new Pennywise, at a time when the Swedish actor was only really known for
01:14 playing the role of Roman Godfrey on the Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove.
01:19 Fortunately, SkarsgÄrd knew better than to try to beat Curry at his own game, and took
01:23 his own approach to the character.
01:25 "Gotcha!
01:26 You filthy little children."
01:30 Where Curry's Pennywise had a deep, raspy voice and seemed very grown-up, SkarsgÄrd's
01:35 take on the character was much more childlike.
01:38 He would speak in a higher-pitched tone and often keep his eyes wide open, in a way that
01:42 made him come across as both innocent and creepy at the same time.
01:46 "This isn't real enough for you, Billy.
01:49 I'm not real enough for you."
01:52 This also made him very unsettling to watch, even when he auditioned for Pennywise without
01:56 any of his makeup or his costume on.
01:59 As Muschietti put it,
02:00 "There was a strange balance that SkarsgÄrd brought, a strange energy, because he's very
02:05 childlike.
02:06 He has these big eyes and a sort of childish, cute face, but he brings a darkness that is
02:11 very unsettling.
02:12 He can play this ambiguity, this dichotomy, very well.
02:15 It comes very easy to him.
02:17 He understands it."
02:19 While he might have been perfectly scary on his own, SkarsgÄrd felt that he didn't really
02:22 have a firm lock on how to play the role until he wore his entire Pennywise getup for the
02:27 first time.
02:28 As the actor explained,
02:29 "It was hard for me to figure out what the character looked or moved like or anything
02:33 because such a big part of it is the makeup and the costume, and I didn't know what that
02:37 would be or how it would look or how it would feel to have on you."
02:41 "Action.
02:42 Yeah, that's beautiful."
02:45 He went on to explain his process for molding the character to his liking.
02:49 "So going into it, I kind of really broke down the character intellectually, like what
02:53 I think this entity is, but I couldn't really physically become him until I got all the
02:57 makeup and the costume on.
02:59 So that was a very important piece to me."
03:02 Upon its release, Muschietti's first It movie was a smash hit, grossing over $700 million
03:07 at the box office.
03:09 It also opened to strong reviews, with critics praising SkarsgÄrd for making the role of
03:13 Pennywise his own, and not repeating what Curry did.
03:17 Two years later, Muschietti and Warner Bros. would return with It Chapter Two, a follow-up
03:21 in which the now-grown-up heroes from the earlier film are forced to return to Derry
03:25 when Pennywise awakens from his slumber.
03:29 Reviews were less kind this time around, but the movie was once again a commercial success
03:33 and kept SkarsgÄrd's star on the up-and-up.
03:35 "27 years I've dreamt about you.
03:41 I craved you.
03:43 I've missed you."
03:45 Shortly after playing Pennywise for the first time, SkarsgÄrd found himself in much greater
03:50 demand.
03:51 He would go on to star in Hulu's Castle Rock, a series inspired by Stephen King's work,
03:56 in which SkarsgÄrd played a mysterious inmate at Shawshank State Penitentiary, known as
04:00 "The Kid."
04:01 The actor has since branched out beyond the world of horror, with roles in films like
04:05 Deadpool 2 and The Devil All the Time.
04:09 Most recently, SkarsgÄrd lent his voice to the movie Eternals as Qrow, a villainous deviant
04:14 who does battle with the titular superheroes.
04:17 the movie.
04:20 (upbeat music)