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Bill Skarsgard has impressed the audience by working alongside Keanu Reeves in the new film, John Wick: Chapter 4 which left quite an impression on die-hard fans. However, he was recognized in the industry after pulling off a magnifying and spine-chilling performance as the monster clown character Pennywise in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT.
Swedish actor, Bill Skarsgard
His portrayal not only was widely appreciated but left lingering terror in many fans’ hearts which absolutely made the movie more memorable. However, what many might be unaware of is the fact that the sinister character he portrayed ended up haunting himself.
Bill Skarsgard Shared His Experience Preparing for Pennywise
Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise
Bill Skarsgardterrorized many hearts with his Pennywise in the horror movies,ITand its 2019 sequel,It Chapter Two. However, this sinister character was not easy to grasp which is why he had to devote himself to his role for months.
“I liken every character that I do to a relationship that you’re in,” Skarsgård told EW. “Pennywise and Bill go into this sort of relationship together, and I’m trying to figure out who he is and I have to devote so much time and effort to this other person – or thing, in this case – and that goes on for months.”
This was quite a negative character which definitely took a toll on him. He opened up about how this character eventually started haunting him in his dreams.
Pennywise’s Character Took a Toll on Bill Skarsgard
Bill Skarsgard as the sinister character, Pennywise
He was happy after the completion of the production process since portraying the character was not easy.
“After we wrapped, I was in my 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hood home in Sweden, sitting having coffee with my mom at our kitchen table, and realized, ‘Oh, holy sh—, I don’t have to deal with this relationship anymore!’ It was a very quick shift of just feeling better, like, ‘Oh my God, I’m relieved that I don’t have to deal with the darkness of the character.’ I likened it to an exorcism – him exiting my body and getting rid of the Pennywise toxins.”
The actor mentioned that the shapeless evil behind Pennywise’s mask was the terrorizing entity, IT that started consuming him in quite a different way.
“I was home, done with the movie, and I started having very strange and vivid Pennywise dreams. Every night, he came and visited.”
The shapeshifter entity used his monstrous traits to disturb the actor.“It was in the shape of either me dealing with him, sort of Pennywise as a separate entity of me, and then also me as Pennywise in circumstances that I didn’t appreciate,” Skarsgard mentioned. “Like, I’m Pennywise and I’m really upset that I’m out in public and people are looking at me.”
While many might believe this phenomenon to be something eerie, he believed that it was his way of keeping his character to rest.
“This was a process of letting go of the monster.”
Despite the little terror dose he received after the portrayal, he found working as the terrifying clown portrayal to be an “amazing” experience for him. The film grossed over $700 million worldwide.
It is available on Prime Video.
Source: EW
