Bill Skarsgard (Netflix's Hemlock Grove) takes over the white-face and blood-red grin of Pennywise from Tim Curry, who memorably played the part in the 1990 TV miniseries. The challenge, according to director Andy Muschietti (2013's Mama) is that the clown is so in-your-face.
"He is present. It's not like one of those movies where you can hide the monster," the filmmaker says. "He's front and center, he does his show, and he has an act. He is a clown."
It's just that ... Pennywise is really entertaining himself, taking the form of whatever frightens his prey the most, but always defaulting to the shape of this unsettling harlequin.
"It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt," says Skarsgard. "What's funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it's funny."
The key to bringing King's most iconic villain to life? "Keep it weird," Muschietti says. "It's weird all the time. Pennywise does things that make absolutely no sense, but they're very disturbing because of the weirdness."