Even James McAvoy was scared of Pennywise on IT: Chapter Two set

January 17th 2019, 1:00pm

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Back in December, we passed along word that director Andres Muschietti's much-anticipated sequel to Stephen King's IT "will be serious, more intense, and have scarier moments." And today we have word that this seems to be the case as Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise in IT: CHAPTER TWO evidently even freaked out James McAvoy on-set. Yes, THAT James McAvoy. Holy shite, right?

Here's what he told Good Morning America specifically:

He’s amazing. The guy who plays the clown is terrifying. He’s a lovely guy, and yet he really freaked me out. I remember standing there with the rest of the cast, all these adults, and we’d all done weird freaky stuff. And we are all looking at each other going, ‘I don’t like being here. I don’t like being an actor today.’ He really did, he really freaked me out. I never liked clowns as a kid.

Fear of clowns? Really, The Beast? He explains:

There’s something tragic about them. Maybe they’ve all run away to join the circus. What are you running away from, Mr. Clown? What have you left behind? Is it like bodies in a trunk?

Makes sense to me. I'm not talking ANY crap about McAvoy's fear of clowns. I sport the same unease, if not fear. And I can especially see Skarsgard's Pennywise being a major step up in that direction. But I have to say I'm happy as hell to hear that Pennywise is scaring people ON-SET. I can't imagine what he'll be like once they add in music and whatnot. How excited are you for IT: CHAPTER TWO? Let us know below!

Here's the new film's semi-synopsis for those who don't already know:

Because every 27 years evil revisits the town of Derry, Maine, IT CHAPTER TWO brings the characters—who’ve long since gone their separate ways—back together as adults, nearly three decades after the events of the first film.

Bill Skarsgård returns in the seminal role of Pennywise along with James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean. Reprising their roles as the original members of the Losers Club are Jaeden Lieberher, Wyatt Oleff, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer.

Muschietti directs from a screenplay by Gary Dauberman based on the novel by Stephen King. Barbara Muschietti, Dan Lin, and Roy Lee are producing the film. Marty Ewing, Seth Grahame-Smith, and David Katzenberg are the executive producers. IT CHAPTER TWO is a New Line Cinema production. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 6, 2019.