Bill Skarsgård Talks Reprising Pennywise Role for It: Welcome to Derry: ‘It’s Pretty Hardcore’

Bill Skarsgård says that It: Welcome to Derry will be “pretty hardcore.”

Skarsgård, who can now be seen playing Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, previously played Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Andy Muschietti’s two It movies, 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two.

He’ll soon be reprising the role in It: Welcome to Derry, a new television series premiering on HBO in 2025 that is developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Andy Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs.

Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Skarsgård said that the forthcoming show will be just as scary, if not even scarier, than the It movies.

“It’s pretty hardcore, man,” he said.

What else did Bill Skarsgård say about It: Welcome to Derry?

When asked if he had any hesitation in returning to the role of Pennywise, Skarsgård said, “I felt like I was done with it, in a way. It was also because I was shooting this [Nosferatu], I was doing Orlock, and, to me, it just felt like, ‘This is the nail in the coffin of my monster roles.’ Pun intended. So I did feel I was kind of over it and wanted to do different things. Of course, the Pennywise thing as well, I’ve been quite defined by it. I was like, ‘That’s 26-year-old me.’ I’m not still a young man.

“…Then things changed. Barbara and Andy, the Muschiettis, are doing it. I love them. They’re very close friends. Family, even. I’m the godfather of his son. So, I love them, and that was, ‘Alright, let’s bring him back.’”

Skarsgård also said, “It was fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, actually. There are parts of it where we got to explore sides of ‘ole Pennywise that we haven’t seen, and that’s fun. I remembered how much I enjoyed working with Andy, and we do have a lot of fun together. I think there’s some cool stuff in there that we haven’t seen that I’m excited for the people to watch and enjoy, hopefully.”