‘It’ star Skarsgard says a ‘disturbing’ scene was cut
LOS ANGELES: Actor Bill Skarsgard — who stars as the creepy manifestation of It, Pennywise the clown, in the new film — has disclosed that one “disturbing” scene that was shot but ultimately cut.
“There was a scene we shot that was a flashback from the 1600s, before Pennywise (was Pennywise),” Skarsgard said. “The scene turned out really, really disturbing. And I’m not the clown. I look more like myself. It’s very disturbing, and sort of a backstory for what It is, or where Pennywise came from. That might be something worth exploring in the second one. The idea is the ‘It’ entity was dormant for thousands and thousands of years. The (flashback) scene hints on that.”
Early drafts of the ‘ It’ screenplay, originally written by director Cary Fukunaga, who departed the project in early 2015, and Chase Palmer, have been thoroughly dissected by the online film community. At least one draft contained a scene featuring Pennywise playing a saloon piano in the 1800s to spur on violence, as well as a colonial- set sequence where It devours a child. Whatever the scene was that Muschietti and company shot, Skarsgard — who wouldn’t go into too many details — said it may yet appear in the sequel.
Moreover, the actor expressed excitement over diving into the trippier elements of King’s book, which have yet to be fully tapped by any adaptation of the material.
“The book is very abstract and metaphysical about what it means to exist and the idea of fantasy and imagination and all of these things,” Skarsgard said. “I think that could be cool to explore as well. It’s like, what is Pennywise? He only exists in the imagination of children. If you don’t believe him to be real then he might not be real. There’s an interesting aspect to explore there.”
In the US, ‘It’ has earned nearly US$ 180 million ( RM774 million) at the box office.