Bill Skarsgard says he has not tried to reproduce Tim Curry’s clown in It
The star said he was a fan of the British actor’s performance but instead drew influences from animals and children.
It star Bill Skarsgard has said he has tried to make the role of Pennywise the clown his own in the Hollywood reboot rather than imitate Tim Curry’s performance.
Skarsgard, 27, said he was a fan of the British actor’s portrayal of the child-eater in the 1990 TV mini-series of Stephen King’s horror novel.
But the Swedish actor instead drew from other influences, such as animals and his younger brother.
“Tim Curry did his thing and nobody can do a Tim Curry performance as well as him so I tried to make a Bill performance out of this.”
Speaking on Tuesday at the Los Angeles premiere of the film based on the 1986 novel, Skarsgard said the character was “as far away from me as I’ve ever done before” and discussed his more unusual influences.
“I had a lot of inspirations. The sort of animalistic behaviour was one … and children, my eight-year-old brother, how he would move and behave when he was even younger,” he said.
Screenwriter Gary Dauberman said his major influence for the friendship group came from Stand By Me, the movie based on King’s novel The Body.
:: IT is out now in UK cinemas.
