If you're a horror fan, then chances are pretty good that you have seen IT by now. Andy Muschietti's Stephen King adaptation has become an unprecedented success for the genre, and the film has delivered on its promise of a terrifying (and critically-acclaimed) tale of friendship and lost innocence. The source of IT's terror is Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and a new video has just dropped showing all of the IT kids recounting their initial reactions to seeing him for the first time. Check it out below to see what everyone had to say.
So it sounds like The Losers' Club kids didn't get much time to hang out with Bill Skarsgard in costume before filming. Andy Muschietti wanted an authentic reaction to them seeing Pennywise for the very first time, so he kept the Swedish actor hidden from the young cast until the big reveal in the projection scene. Based on everything that these actors had to say about seeing the demonic entity for the very first time, it appears that all of the work and secrecy ultimately paid off.
In fact, Finn Wolfhard's response pretty much encapsulates everything that The Losers' Club (and by extension, the audience) felt upon seeing him for the very first time. The Stranger Things actor said:
I was so freaked out.
We don't blame you, Mr. Wolfhard. That said, it's not just the fact that Pennywise is scary; much of it also has to do with the Andy Muschietti's smart use of the monster. As pointed out by Chosen Jacobs in that video, the film's economic use of Pennywise adds to his mystique by not overly exposing him and keeping him unpredictable. The young actor explained:
He's just so sporadic. You don't know what he's going to do.
Now that Pennywise the Dancing Clown has received a proper introduction, it sounds like things are going to go more in-depth as the IT universe expands. With the first IT, Andy Muschietti cut out the entire subplot involving The Losers' Club as adults, and it now appears that IT 2 (which is currently gearing up for a September 6, 2019 release) will dive into the lore and underlying mythology of the first film's villain as these heroes return to Derry, Maine almost three full decades after their first traumatic experience with the killer clown. Let's just hope that the sequel can deliver that same gut-punch reveal when the older actors step in for the highly-anticipated sequel.
IT is now in theaters and continues to prove itself as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie of all time. Make sure to check it out and take a look at our movie premiere guides (for 2017, as well as 2018) to see what else is on the horizon at the movies for the next year!
