Bill Skarsgård on the Intense Role of Pennywise in ‘It’
October 27, 2023
You may not recognize Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård without cracking demonic clown makeup. Best known for his portrayal as Pennywise the Dancing Clown from the film adaptation of the 1986 Stephen King novel and mega movie hit It, the 33-year-old actor unleashed an unreal performance when performing the role.
Although he didn’t go full method, Skarsgård devoted so much energy to the demonic clown that it took a toll on him during filming.
“Everything I did took 100 percent of my energy,” he told The New York Times. “It was by far the most exhausting character I’ve ever done, physically and mentally.”
Interestingly, Skarsgård happened to be in Los Angeles auditioning for unrelated roles when the Pennywise audition popped up, which he did without any makeup.
Sure enough, Skarsgård found himself as one of the final four contenders for the part. Only after an in-makeup callback, a screen test and a self tape he sent while back in Stockholm did he land the infamous role.
“I was equally as excited as I was terrified when I booked the job because now these people expected me to pull it off. It was a nervous time,” he said.
To prepare, the actor experimented with makeup and costumes, and even consulted with a clown coach.
Knowing his character feeds on fear and detests children, he decided to portray “It” with animalistic and childlike physicality. Skarsgård delved into the dark recesses of his mind attempting to play an entity that enjoys doing evil.
“I think I’ve gone through every sort of emotion on the way of prepping for this character–sort of terror and doubt and excitement,” he said.
Although the costume was hot (it took two and a half hours for the makeup artists to work their creepy magic), Skarsgård was glad his identity was largely concealed.
“I wouldn’t want to be associated with one character because I want to be able to do different roles,” he said. “Pennywise looks and sounds so different from me that I could do a rom-com next, and people probably wouldn’t even know I was the same guy.”
Due to the nature of his character, Bill was understandably concerned that he might be traumatizing the child actors with whom he shared gruesome scenes. Although the children describe him as a “really nice guy in real life,” they do admit that it was “really, really terrifying” to perform in scenes together.
Skarsgård comes from a large acting family. His father is Stellan Skarsgård who starred in Good Will Hunting opposite Robin Williams.
Of the eight kids in the family, four of them —including Bill— have gone on to become actors thanks to the encouragement of their dad.
Bill Skarsgård’s previous roles include the action film Allegiant and the Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove. And it should be no surprise he’s currently working on a number of projects including the reboot of The Crow and the remake of Nosferatu.
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