‘We Had No Illusions’: Welcome To Derry’s Co-Creator Details What It Took To Convince Bill Skarsgård To Return As Pennywise

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Be warned: this article reveals major plot points from the first six episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry. If you haven’t seen them yet, we recommend watching on HBO Max first to avoid spoilers!

The HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry took a risk with its first season by delaying the appearance of Pennywise, the iconic clown played by Bill Skarsgård, until the fifth episode. While viewers were eager to see him return, the show held back, leading to some frustration online. The creators explained this choice by saying they wanted to emphasize Pennywise’s ability to change forms. However, the real reason was actually convincing Bill Skarsgård to play the character again.

This week on The King Beat, we explore what finally convinced the celebrated actor to join the cast of IT: Welcome to Derry. I sat down with series co-creator and showrunner Jason Fuchs to discuss the long development process and the two main reasons Bill Skarsgård ultimately agreed to the project. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

IT: Welcome To Derry’s Creators Always Understood That The Show Wouldn’t Work Without Bill Skarsgård As Pennywise

Development on the IT: Welcome to Derry series started picking up around three years ago, with showrunners officially joining in November 2022 and HBO Max giving it the go-ahead in March 2023. However, around that same time, questions arose about whether Bill Skarsgård would reprise his role as Pennywise. When asked about his involvement, Skarsgård gave a vague response, saying he was curious to see what the show’s creators planned.

When I wrote about those initial comments, I remember immediately worrying about what it meant for the show’s future – and honestly, a lot of other people felt the same way. It was clear the creative team, including co-creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti, knew how essential his involvement was. They really needed to craft a story that resonated with him, something that fit where he was as an artist at that moment. As Jason Fuchs put it…

Honestly, getting Bill involved wasn’t a given. He’s always loved working with Andy and Barbara, and he’s a huge fan of the story and the character, but he’d also felt like he’d really done that role. He gave us two incredibly memorable performances, so it wasn’t as easy as just asking him to reprise Pennywise for this prequel. He needed to know what new angles we were exploring with the character, what he could bring that he hadn’t already achieved. It was about finding something fresh and compelling for him to sink his teeth into.

Bill Skarsgård is currently enjoying success in his career, fresh off his critically praised role in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. This allowed him to be selective about returning for IT: Welcome to Derry. He was only willing to reprise his role as Pennywise if the series offered him a chance to explore new facets of the character, something the previous two IT films hadn’t allowed.

As Jason Fuchs pointed out, this situation presented a real creative hurdle for him, fellow showrunner Brad Caleb Kane, the producers, and the writing team. They all knew the show wouldn’t work without the most compelling character from the original story, so their main focus during development was ensuring that character was done right.

As a huge fan of the original, getting Bill Skarsgård back for this project was everything. Honestly, it set a really high standard for us – the creators, the writers, everyone involved. We kept asking ourselves, how do we make something that truly feels worthy of him revisiting Pennywise? That was the biggest hurdle from the beginning. When Bill finally said yes, it felt like a massive win, because let’s be real, without him, there just wouldn’t be a ‘Welcome to Derry.’ We all knew that going in.

Fortunately, the creatives had an ace up their sleeve: the identity of Bob Gray.

We’ll Soon Meet Bob Gray In IT: Welcome To Derry, And He Was Key In Selling Bill Skarsgård On The Show

The identity of Bob Gray in Stephen King’s IT is intentionally unclear. The name appears a few times in the novel – Pennywise uses it to refer to himself, and Mrs. Kersh reveals he was her father while speaking with the grown-up Beverly Marsh. This ambiguity actually proved helpful during the production of IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1, and even played a role in getting Bill Skarsgård to agree to star in the series.

I asked Jason Fuchs what convinced the actor to commit to the project, and he explained that learning more about the character Bob Gray was crucial in getting him on board.

Ultimately, he was convinced by the story elements in episodes six, seven, and eight. He was particularly enthusiastic about portraying the human side of Pennywise, and especially excited to play Bob Gray – the very real, in-universe, man who first encountered IT back in 1908, as shown in the beginning of episode seven, and whose life was forever altered by it.

Viewers caught a quick glimpse of Bob Gray in IT: Chapter Two during a vision Bev Marsh had, but IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 6 (“In the Name of the Father”) really begins to reveal Pennywise’s more human side. The episode introduces a shocking twist involving Madeleine Stowe’s character, Ingrid Kersh, who has secretly aided Pennywise for decades in hopes of finding her father. Bill Skarsgård will delve deeper into this connection in the next two episodes, according to Fuchs.

I saw it as a chance to portray a different side of the character, to understand who Bob Gray was and the dynamics of his relationship with his daughter. I believe he was particularly interested in the scene where Bob and Periwinkle/Ingrid are in his trailer – that interaction and the emotional weight of it really appealed to him.

But the Pennywise/Periwinkle relationship wasn’t the only one that intrigued the actor.

Beyond The Human Side Of Pennywise, IT Contends With Whole New Prey

The series Welcome To Derry is a real gift for Stephen King enthusiasts, offering a fresh and detailed look at one of his most popular stories, while also fitting neatly into the established story universe. A standout part of the show is the story of Chris Chalk’s character, Dick Hallorann. He appears briefly in the original book, and the series shows us his difficult early experiences with the psychic abilities connected to The Shining, years before he becomes the cook at the Overlook Hotel. This unique angle was especially appealing to Bill Skarsgård and played a key role in his decision to join the project.

As a huge movie fan, I’ve always been fascinated by stories where the hero is a real match for the villain, and that’s exactly what we have here. This creature thrives on fear, usually picking on people who can’t defend themselves, but Dick? He’s different. He’s got these incredible abilities that make him a true challenge to it. We first saw a hint of their cool back-and-forth in Episode 3, ‘Now You See It,’ when Dick was psychically tracking the creature from above, and honestly, their rivalry has only gotten more intense since then. As Fuchs pointed out, it’s a really compelling dynamic.

Honestly, what really excited me about returning to this story was the chance to play Bob Gray again. But beyond that, I was fascinated by how Pennywise, as IT, interacted with the new characters. We’d never seen anything like the scenes with Dick Hallorann before – it was amazing to see IT facing off against someone else who had special abilities. It just created a whole new level of tension and drama that felt really fresh.

The story of IT: Welcome to Derry is about to take a noticeably darker turn, and viewers have a lot to look forward to. The next-to-last episode, titled “The Black Spot,” will premiere on HBO and HBO Max this Sunday, December 7th, with the season finale following on December 14th.

That concludes this week’s special episode of The King Beat. Join me next Thursday on TopMob for a fresh look at all things Stephen King.

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2025-12-04 20:11