Bill Skarsgård on Playing Pennywise the Clown

TL;DR

Bill Skarsgård approached Pennywise as an angry, child-hating clown, using an intense performance that initially made him worry he had traumatized a young co-star. He also explains how growing up in Stockholm, traveling to film sets with his father Stellan Skarsgård, and seeing acting as imaginative play shaped his career. Read on for his candid account of filming “It” and why he avoids scary movies himself.

Transcript

WELL, IT'S VERY GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE. YOU'RE FROM SWEDEN I UNDERSTAND. >> I'M FROM STOCKHOLM, THAT'S RIGHT. >> Jimmy: STOCKHOLM. YES, I'VE HEARD OF THAT. WHAT GOES ON IN STOCKHOLM? IS IT A FUN PLACE TO LIVE? >> IT'S A PLACE, YEAH. [ LAUGHTER ] >> Jimmy: ARE YOU STILL LIVING THERE? >> I'VE BEEN SORT OF ON THE ROAD FOR SEVEN YEARS. SO I'M TRYING T... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨 Skarsgård's upbringing in Stockholm and his father's fame made acting a natural aspiration for him.
• 🤕 Traveling with his father allowed him to experience the film industry from a young age, influencing his creative desires.
• 🤩 The balance between professionalism and childhood innocence is highlighted in Skarsgård's interactions with co-stars in "It."
• 😨 His character Pennywise requires a deep exploration of fear, allowing him to engage with darker themes.
• 😱 Skarsgård's journey illustrates the unique challenges actors face while portraying intense roles, particularly in horror.
• 😱 Despite becoming known for horror, he admits enjoying a different narrative journey and emotions through acting.
• 😱 Skarsgård's personal fear parallels themes in horror film narratives, reflecting broader human experiences with fear.

Questions & Answers

Q: What was it like for Bill Skarsgård to play Pennywise the Clown?

Skarsgård describes Pennywise as a character who hates the children and carries intense anger. During one scene, he screamed in a young actor’s face while performing the clown role, making the experience emotionally intense even though the cast understood it was acting.

Q: Were the child actors on “It” actually scared of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise?

Skarsgård was unsure whether the children would be frightened or willing to engage with such intense material. He found that they were highly professional actors who could move between emotional scenes and ordinary conversation.

Q: Why was Bill Skarsgård kept separate from the young cast of “It”?

The production deliberately kept Skarsgård apart from the children so they had not really met him or seen the clown before filming. This helped preserve the impact of Pennywise’s appearance when they performed their scenes together.

Q: Did Bill Skarsgård worry about traumatizing a child actor on “It”?

Yes. While screaming, drooling, and performing an intense scene with Jack, who plays Eddie, Skarsgård worried that he was traumatizing him. After the cut, Jack said he loved what Skarsgård was doing with the character.

Q: How did Bill Skarsgård’s acting family influence his career?

His father, Stellan Skarsgård, and his brother Alexander are actors, and half of the eight children in the family had become actors at the time of the interview. Being around sets from a young age made acting seem imaginative, playful, and appealing to Bill.

Q: What did Bill Skarsgård experience while traveling to movie sets with his father?

As his father’s international career took off, the family traveled with him to shoots in exotic locations. Bill remembers seeing his father on set with props and costumes, such as a gun and a fake mustache, which made acting resemble childhood play.

Q: Where is Bill Skarsgård from, and was he still living there?

Skarsgård is from Stockholm, Sweden. At the time of the interview, he said he had been on the road for seven years because of acting and travel, so he was still trying to figure out where home was.

Q: Does Bill Skarsgård enjoy scary movies?

No, he says he never really liked the idea of being scared, even though he had started becoming known as a genre actor. Rather than enjoying fear, he tends to become upset and angry, comparing fear to the instinct to run when a bear approaches.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Skarsgård reflects on his upbringing in Stockholm and how his father's acting career influenced his own choice to pursue acting from a young age.

• He shares experiences traveling with his father on movie sets, emphasizing the thrill and enchantment of cinema as a child witnessing his father’s performances.

• Skarsgård discusses his role in a recent horror film, his unique approach to character, and interactions with young co-stars, highlighting the blend of fear and excitement in his career.