Before Tim Curry was cast as Pennywise the Clown in the 1990 miniseries of Stephen King's IT, a surprising actor was in line for the part. When Bill Skarsgard was cast as Pennywise in the 2017 IT movie, the immediate question on the mind of most was whether or not he could possibly live up to Curry's performance. Many would now argue he did that, but Curry's work still casts a long shadow, and his version of Pennywise will presumably remain iconic for decades to come.
In hindsight, Curry seems like a natural choice for the role, as he is an extremely charismatic performer, and had also both played demonic villains and worked under heavy makeup by that point. Yet, according to the recently released documentary Pennywise: The Story of IT, Curry was not the first choice. Initially up for the role of Pennywise in IT 1990 before Tim Curry was Harvey Fierstein.
Fierstein seems like quite a strange choice for Pennywise, as he is primarily known for wacky comedic roles and has a very distinctive voice that might seem odd coming out of King's dancing clown. Audiences will never know if the casting would have worked or not though, as Fierstein backed out of the project for an understandable but depressing reason. As told to the CBC, Fierstein turned IT down due to concerns about being an openly gay actor playing a character that preys on children. Fierstein was concerned that right-wing political groups would seize on that and use it to further their long-held false assertions that gay men were dangerous to have around children.
Where You Know Harvey Fierstein From
A multi-time Tony Award winner, Harvey Fierstein is likely best known to those who follow the world of live theater, and as one of Hollywood's first openly gay celebrities has become an icon in the gay community. He has more often been found onstage in plays like Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray than on the big or small screens. Still, Fierstein has a long list of movies and TV shows to his credit, and has also done some voice work, most notably as Yao in Disney's original Mulan and in guest spots on The Simpsons and Family Guy.
On film, Fierstein is easily recognized for his roles as Frank Hillard, brother to Robin Williams' Daniel in Mrs. Doubtfire, as well as Marty Gilbert, friend and coworker to Jeff Goldblum's David Levinson in Independence Day. On TV, Fierstein actually earned an Emmy nomination for a one-off guest character he played on Cheers, Rebecca's ex Mark who she did not realize was actually gay. Fierstein also counts guest appearances on such shows as Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife and Hercules on his resume, although it is hard not to wonder how his casting might have changed IT 1990.