Do you remember the horrifying projector scene in “It,” where the kids see Pennywise the Clown? Well, that was the first time the actors as a group actually laid eyes on the iconic monster, and it was caught on camera. In a featurette released by Warner Bros.
The first ever public appearance of Pennywise the Dancing Clown was on the evening of the eleventh of November, 1980, six years before the publication of IT.
Though it is just before the next twenty-seven year IT cycle, this is our first glimpse of Pennywise in IT Chapter One. In the opening scene of the film, young Georgie Denbrough playing with a paper boat made for him by his brother Bill. He loses the boat down the sewer and faces Pennywise when he tries to get it back.
Ultimately, Stephen King's inspiration for Pennywise was derived from an array of sources ranging from real-life murders to far less sinister clowns. At the end of the day, his main reason for making the central creature of IT a clown was his own fear of them.
That said, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Andy Muschietti's casting process for the "IT" films reveals how wide a net was cast in terms of Pennywise's age. The role originally went to Will Poulter, who was in his early 20s. It wound up going to Bill Skarsgård, a performer in his mid-20s.
The 'It' Kids' Terrifying First Look at Pennywise on Set | IMDb EXCLUSIVE
Who played Pennywise in 1990?
Tim Curry turned in a legendary performance as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's IT, but he wasn't the first choice. 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.
Sophia Lillis (born February 13, 2002) is an American actress. She starred as Beverly Marsh in the horror films It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019), as well as Sydney Novak in the Netflix drama series I Am Not Okay With This (2020).
The backstory of Pennywise is tied to an ancient cosmic entity referred to as the "It" or the "Eater of Worlds." This entity is from another dimension and has existed for an extremely long time. It comes to Earth approximately every 27 years to prey on the children of Derry.
It can manipulate weak-willed people, making them indifferent to the horrific events that unfold, or even serve as accomplices. In the novel, It claims that its true name is Robert "Bob" Gray, but decided to be named “It”. Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male, usually appearing as Pennywise.
Pennywise offers Georgie his boat back, but when Georgie attempts to reach out to it, Pennywise grabs Georgie's arm and bites it off, leaving Georgie to bleed to death in the rain.
Stephen King's IT introduced readers to a one-of-a-kind creature that can take any form, the most common one being Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and as menacing as it is, this creature has one big enemy it's truly scared of: Maturin, the turtle.
Throughout Stephen King's It, Pennywise is referred to as a male, but author Stephen King pulled a fast one on readers in the It book ending by revealing the creature's true form was a pregnant spider, implying that it is, in fact, biologically female.
Pennywise had targeted Georgie when the boy was too young to know any better or fight back. In the clown's most contemptible murders, Pennywise did not rely on visions or fears to lure Georgie in; instead, Pennywise exploited Georgie's trust and turned it into a fatal weakness.
IT arrived on Earth through an event similar to an asteroid impact, landing in what would later become Derry, Maine. Once there, IT adopted its usual pattern of hibernation that lasted between 27 and 30 years, awakening to kill and eat and then going back to sleep.
Pennywise the Clown is not a clown at all. The Pennywise the clown origin story sees an ancient, evil being that is perhaps as old as the universe itself. In the novel, however, the entity IT/Pennywise has a real name — Bob Gray. Bob Gray isn't human, however, and shares the same origin as IT.
In the novel, It's origins are nebulous. He took the form of a clown most frequently, Mr. Bob Gray or Pennywise, but his true form is an ancient eldritch entity from another universe who landed in the town that would become Derry by way of an asteroid and first awoke in 1715.
Now, King doesn't offer an explanation as to why Pennywise is named like that, and the name doesn't seem to have any cultural significance except for the old English saying “Penny Wise, Pound Foolish”, which refers to being stingy about less expensive things but not so much on big things.
Actor Bill Skarsgård, who took on the role of Pennywise, made the evil clown a towering figure when compared to Tim Curry, who originated the role in the early '90s and stood 5 ft 9 inches tall. At 6'4", Skarsgård's Pennywise became a truly imposing figure, and much taller than the children he preyed upon.
In both the book and the films, It is an ancient alien creature, older than civilization, and in King's novel, older than our universe. It feasts on the flesh of humans simply because our fears are easy to manifest and they make us taste better.
Pennywise pretty much made Derry the perfect place for a creature like itself to live, and with the whole town under its control and with a lot of children (and adults) to feed from, IT didn't really have reasons to leave Derry.
Pennywise targets children instead of adults because they are easier to scare and manipulate. Their fears are often simpler, more direct, and easier for Pennywise to exploit.
In the novel, It claims that its true name is Robert "Bob" Gray, but decided to be named “It”. Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male, usually appearing as Pennywise. The Losers come to believe It may be female after seeing it in the form of a monstrous giant spider that lays eggs.
