LOS ANGELES, July 13 (UPI) — Stephen King‘s “It” is giving fans a glimpse of its new Pennywise the Clown.
Entertainment Weekly debuted a first photo of Bill Skarsgard as the demonic entity Wednesday. The 25-year-old Swedish actor will play the character in Andres Muschietti’s forthcoming film adaptation of King’s novel.
“It’s such an extreme character. Inhumane,” Skarsgard told the magazine. “It’s beyond even a sociopath, because he’s not even human. He’s not even a clown. I’m playing just one of the beings It creates.”
“It” follows a group of children terrorized by a shape-shifting creature that most often appears in the form of Pennywise. The story was previously adapted as a two-part TV movie with Tim Curry as the clown.
“It’s important that we do something fresh and original for this one,” Skarsgard said. “Tim Curry’s performance was truly great, but it’s important for me to do something different because of that.”
“There’s a childishness to the character, because he’s so closely linked to the kids,” he added of his version. “The clown is the manifestation of children’s imaginations, so there’s something childlike about that.”
Muschietti shared similar sentiments when he spoke to Variety in October. The director said there’s “a whole world now to rediscover” and “update” in the story, adding the “terrors are going to be a lot more surprising.”
Skarsgard is best known for playing Roman Godfrey on the Netflix series “Hemlock Grove.” He is the son of actor Stellan Skarsgard and the brother of “True Blood” star Alexander Skarsgard.
