Stephen King’s It: Pennywise “terrified” kids and made them cry on set

Bill Skarsgard has revealed that his portrayal of Pennywise the clown in Stephen King’s It was so scary that it “terrified” the child extras on set.

Skarsgard told Interview Magazine that his creepy clown had kids “shaking” and “crying” during takes:

“At one point, they set up this entire scene, and these kids come in, and none of them have seen me yet. Their parents have brought them in, these little extras, right? And then I come out as Pennywise, and these kids—young, normal kids—I saw the reaction that they had. Some of them were really intrigued, but some couldn’t look at me, and some were shaking. This one kid started crying. He started to cry and the director yelled, “Action!” And when they say “action,” I am completely in character. So some of these kids got terrified and started to cry in the middle of the take, and then I realized, “Holy shit. What am I doing? What is this? This is horrible.”‘

The upcoming horror adaptation is one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, having impressed with its trailer and breaking a record for the most views. The movie’s official synopsis reads:

When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

It hits screens on September 8th. See its trailer below in the meantime: