Pennywise Actor Returns For New Streaming Series Welcome To Derry

Focusing on Pennywise, Welcome to Derry is set in the 1960s and leads up to the events of the first film in the It franchise.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and will consist of nine episodes, four of which will be directed by Andy Muschietti. Brad Caleb Kane and Jason Fuchs, who were both involved in the production of It: Chapter Two, will serve as showrunners.

Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, and James Remar joined the Pennywise origin story series Welcome to Derry cast in April 2023. Stephen Rider later signed on as a series regular, with Madeleine Stowe as a recurring guest.

Filming began in May 2023 in Toronto, Hamilton, and Port Hope under the working title “Greetings from Fairview.” The series is expected to premiere on Max in 2025.

Pennywise (also known as It) is the main antagonist in the 1986 Stephen King horror novel It. He is an ancient, shape-shifting, trans-dimensional evil entity that preys on the children of Derry, Maine, every 27 years.

Pennywise primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown and is feared by children for his ability to manipulate reality and shape-shift into their deepest fears.

In the novel, the villain claims its true name is Robert “Bob” Gray but prefers to be known as “It.” It is described as a monstrous entity that originated in a void that encompasses the Universe, known as the “Macroverse.”

It arrived on Earth during an asteroid impact and made its home under the land where Derry would later be constructed.

Pennywise has been portrayed by two actors on screen. In the 1990 It miniseries, the character was portrayed by English actor Tim Curry, whose performance has become iconic and is considered one of the most terrifying clown characters in film and television by several publications.

He used improvisation and gave the character a Bronx accent to sound like “an old-time Catskills comic.”

In the miniseries, Pennywise appears in four forms in addition to his primary clown incarnation. These forms include an elderly lady named Mrs. Kersh, Ben’s dead father, Captain Hanscom, a werewolf, and It’s true spider-like form.

Curry was originally planned to play every form, but the crew decided it was more efficient to have different actors portray them to avoid extensive makeup changes.

When Bill Skarsgard portrayed Pennywise in the 2017 film It and its 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, he drew inspiration from the original novel and Tim Curry’s portrayal while also bringing his own unique twist to the character.

His unsettling performance, combined with the film’s creepy visuals and jump scares, made Pennywise one of the most iconic horror villains in recent memory.

 Source: Deadline