Stephen King’s novel It has received two popular adaptations since its publication in 1986. In the two-part TV movie from 1990 and the two-part theatrical version with releases in 2017 and 2019, multiple actors have played “It” in various forms.

Coming in at 1,138 pages, the novel was the best-selling hardcover fiction book when it was released in 1986. The sprawling narrative involved seven kids, known as The Losers Club, who are pitted against an ancient evil that can manifest the fears of its chosen victims. This entity, which often takes the form of a human clown named Pennywise, uses fear as a distraction before claiming its prey – primarily young children. The book was released at the height of the writer’s popularity in the 1980s when studios were anxious to develop properties based on his best-selling titles. King was so well known the year that It was released, he was tapped to direct a horror film based solely on his name recognition.

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When it was originally announced that a new film version of the King book was in production, fans of the 1990 TV miniseries were skeptical. That popular ABC production, directed by Halloween III’s Tommy Lee Wallace, featured actor Tim Curry in a memorably creepy portrayal of the evil clown. The miniseries broke records and gave Curry yet another iconic character to add to his list of notable roles. Perhaps encouraged by the popularity of the Netflix series Stranger Things, which owed a great debt to King’s 1980s output, It lived again. Directed by Mama filmmaker Andy Muschietti and starring Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, the two-part big screen adaptation proved tremendously successful.

Actors Who Played The IT Entity In Chapters 1&2

Few characters have captured the pop culture zeitgeist in the past decade more than Pennywise the Clown, memorably portrayed by Skarsgard. But he wasn’t the only actor to inhabit the evil entity in the two films. As in King’s book, Pennywise took many forms, including a headless boy and, in a visual nod to John Carpenter’s The Thing, a head that grew spider legs. But the ancient evil terrorizing the town of Derry also manifested itself in human form, and none so terrifying as Mrs. Kersh in It: Chapter 2. Actress Joan Gregson played the old woman living in Beverly Marsh’s (Jessica Chastain) childhood apartment. The terrifying sequence, which played a large part in the marketing, highlighted how invasive and unpredictable the creature truly was.

It also took the form of Beverly’s abusive father Alvin, played by Stephen Bogaert. Other human manifestations included the hobo leper, played by Javier Botet, that terrorizes young Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer). Eddie himself was also briefly used by the entity to disturb Bill (Jaeden Martell) and Richie (Finn Wolfhard) when his head bursts out from an old mattress. Most hauntingly, Pennywise also took the human form of Georgie, played by Jackson Robert Scott. The entity used the image of Bill’s dead brother as one of his ploys to create fear and doubt within the Loser’s Club. All memorable manifestations of the evil force - told through solid performances guided by Muschietti. A new version of King’s The Stand premieres later in 2020 on CBS All Access.

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