‘IT’ Pennywise Actor Performed Amazing Facial Trick With No CGI

One of the best things about actor Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King‘s IT movie is the way that Skarsgård can make Pennywise seem like he is truly not of this world. That eerie feeling of a monster lurking just behind the clown facade is often conveyed through subtle ticks and changes in Skarsgård’s mannerisms, which seem perfectly offbeat from normal human behaviors.

Apparently, plans for Sakrsgård’s Pennywise performance figured on the use of CGI to affect the character’s appearance, but as Cinemablend found out from IT director Andres Muschietti, Bill Skarsgård brought a unique skill set that made computer enhancement totally unnecessary:

“We were talking about the character, and I said, ‘In post-production I’m going to deviate your eyes,’ and he said, ‘I can do it.’ He was here in the morning and he was doing the trick. It’s crazy. What are the chances the guy that you picked for the role could do it?”

If you watch the clip from IT above, you can actually see an example of Skarsgård really using his facial features to create the evil entities non-human ticks. The eye trick is especially affecting; when Skarsgård let’s his eyes lose focus and synch that way, it truly looks like he’s wearing a human mask, rather than an actual face.

That attention to detail in the performance is just one reason why IT is receiving positive reviews; why fan anticipation for this film is so high; and why even Stephen King is debating crowning Skarsgård as the best Pennywise, over IT ’90s miniseries star, Tim Curry.

You can catch IT in theaters this weekend.