You might think that once the makeup comes off that Bill Skarsgard, Pennywise, might be a lot less scary. But apparently you would be wrong. That open-lip smile he gives is something that he used to perform to scare his younger siblings according to the post below. Imagine that, this expression is only enhanced by makeup instead of masked and reproduced. That make Pennywise that much scarier to be quite honest, and he was already extremely creepy to begin with.
There have been a lot of comparisons between this Pennywise and that of Tim Curry’s in the 1990 miniseries that finally took IT out of the book and onto the screen where people could see. It’s not entirely fair to either actor to really try and compare the two unless you take in all the facts.
Tim Curry didn’t have the full benefit of special effects.
The effects of the 1990’s were getting better and better with each passing year but they still can’t hold a candle to those of today in terms of how believable they are. In some scenes there were still claymation techniques being used that might seem extraordinarily cheesy now but were essential back then. Tim Curry had to do a lot more actual acting than Skarsgard just because of the limits of the effects.
Bill Skarsgard presents a slightly different take on Pennywise.
Like I said, let’s look at everything we can. Neither Pennywise is bad no matter what anyone says. They both bring a decidedly evil look to the demented clown that terrorizes the children of Derry. The difference is that Skarsgard just seems off the wall crazy while Curry seems a little goofy, but downright sinister. Like I said though they both bring a very distinctive look to the clown, and it’s great on both ends.
Tim Curry already had an impressive resume to back up his role.
He’s played so many great characters that Pennywise kind of just came natural to him it seems. He fell into the role of the clown so easily that you have to wonder if anyone else was even considered for the part. His English accent is nowhere to be found in the movie, making it seem like he’s American-born and bred. His level of talent was unheard of when it came to this part. Bill Skarsgard does come from an acting family however and does have what it takes to make the role work. His Pennywise might need a little bit of broadening in the next chapter to effectively deal with the Losers Club as adults, but so far he’s been spot on.
I think we can all see a bright future for Pennywise when he finally returns to the big screen in Chapter 2 of IT, but we can only hope that Bill Skarsgard’s younger siblings are no longer as freaked out about his strange and eerie smile that he’s been able to do for so long.
Seriously, that lip thing is just creepy. I can see why his siblings were freaked out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYx9RMxlPNe/
