manda Christine Reveals Bill Skarsgård Was Kept Away from ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Cast Until Episode 5 – Here’s Why

The HBO series It: Welcome to Derry has fans talking, not just for its story but for the cast’s first encounters with Pennywise. Collider spoke with actors Matilda Lawler, Amanda Christine, and Clara Stack about seeing Bill Skarsgård in full costume for the first time.

Matilda Lawler described the experience as terrifying. “I definitely was mentally preparing myself to be horrified by Bill, but you’re right, you can’t prepare for that. It’s an entirely unique experience that I cannot describe with any other word, but terror.”

“He’s just so imposing. All the elements combined, with the physical, the costume, the makeup, the wardrobe team, is so phenomenal, and the prosthetics team is so phenomenal. It’s also Bill and the energy that he brings. He is a nice guy off set, but when he’s Pennywise, you feel that terror and it is indescribable. It lives with me.”

Amanda Christine said the production team kept Skarsgård hidden from the cast until a key scene. “It was definitely very scary to work with Pennywise. They kept him top secret. They kept him away from us until we got to that specific sewer scene. It was really, really cool to meet him and just to experience that with him.”

“He takes the character so seriously and really takes on the role of being Pennywise. He is Pennywise. It was just really cool to experience that and really scary too. That reaction you see is our real reaction.”

Clara Stack added that the fear on screen is genuine. “The reaction in the series is our genuine, true reaction to seeing him for the first time. Bill really brings such an incredible energy to set and he really embodies Pennywise so amazingly. He really brought the fear. He brought the stakes.”

“When we saw him for the first time, we were all shocked and scared, but we were also in awe. Seeing him on screen and seeing him in the movies versus seeing him in person right in front of you with hair and makeup and costume, and he’s so tall, it was intimidating, but it was also super cool to see.”

It: Welcome to Derry is a prequel to the films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel. The series was developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, who all worked on the original films.

The cast includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, and Mikkal Karim-Fidler, with Skarsgård reprising his role as Pennywise and also serving as an executive producer.

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