Welcome to Derry’s first season is taking us through the events of the 1962 cycle of terror from an entity known as IT. The creature, which plays on fear and often appears in a creepy clown form known as Pennywise, is giving several kids in Derry horrific nightmares. And honestly, the sight of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown is downright terrifying for most people. There’s a reason why many of us are not big fans of clowns, especially those with a creepy smile. But, just imagine what it must be like to be right in front of this dancing monster. Actor Arian S. Cartaya, who portrays band nerd Rich, knows exactly what it is like to experience this.
When we asked him what it was like to see Skarsgård as Pennywise for the first time on set, he didn’t hesitate to answer. Prior to the series, he didn’t know much about Pennywise nor the world of IT except that he was a scary dancing clown. Now, it’s safe to say that he knows it very well after being in this series and getting an up close look at Pennywise in person.
“It’s surreal,” Cartaya told Nerdist. “He’s super intimidating. First, there’s his height. He’s super tall. He’s six foot five! So just based on that, he’s terrifying. But also before the scenes he would twitch and giggle and do all that stuff. And also his lazy eye is terrifying.”
For those who don’t know, Skarsgård’s left eye has a natural misalignment and he’s able to make it move in unexpected ways. He certainly uses this to amp up the overall scariness of Pennywise. Even when we don’t see him in Welcome to Derry, he’s so scary that we feel his presence all the same.