Well, as it turns out, actors who play child-eating, sewer-lingering clowns are people, too.
Bill Skarsgard joined that rare demographic in 2017 when the smash hit It launched into theaters. Ever since, all eyes have been looking towards the Losers’ Club’s eventual reunion with Skarsgard’s Pennywise, and It: Chapter Two has finally arrived, with the Swedish actor reprising his terrifying role.
As it turns out, audience members aren’t the only one freaked out by the dancing clown, though.
Speaking with EW a while back, Skarsgard revealed that he’d had several Pennywise-based nightmares, stating that playing the murderous thing (for lack of a better term) had a lasting impact on his life. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that time has helped him at all.
In a recent chat with CBR, Skarsgard went into detail about what some of his dreams are like. And, as you’ll see for yourself, they’re pretty upsetting:
“The dreams were nonsensical. I had dreams at times where I was Pennywise walking around Stockholm, and I was like, ‘They can’t see me like this’ I was upset. ‘They can’t see me just walking around with the makeup on. It ruins the mystery.’ I was walking around, upset about that, embarrassing myself. And then there were other dreams where I was watching Pennywise, separate to me.”
Skarsgard’s probably not the only one on set who’s since suffered from similar nightmares. In fact, star James McAvoy, who plays the adult version of Jaeden Martell’s Bill Denbrough, admitted that he’s also been a victim of such dreams.
And while I feel a tad bit of sympathy for McAvoy, I can’t help but feel that this is a strange sort of ironic justice in Skarsgard’s case. No, I’m not saying that the actors are the actual perpetrators of what’s happening on screen, and of course, embodying such a horrific being is a different experience than witnessing it, but it’s kind of nice knowing that the person who’s striking fear in us is capable of feeling it himself, too.
It: Chapter Two is in theaters now.
Published: Sep 18, 2019 11:25 am