Bill Skarsgard teaches Stephen Colbert how to smile like Pennywise

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

When IT: CHAPTER TWO actor Bill Skarsgard was preparing for his role as Pennywise the Dancing Clown for Andy Muschietti's remake of Stephen King's classic horror story, he'd found inspiration for the character's deranged smile in a rather unlikely place. While it was Bill's brother, Gustaf Skarsgard, who coined the insidious smirk, Bill revealed that much of the execution came from watching animal documentaries.

"I like watching these animal documentaries and so forth. As I was playing the character, I guess I realized he’s a little bit hyena, a little bit grizzly bear," Skarsgard told Colbert during a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When asked to elaborate about the grizzly bear comparison, Skarsgard replied, “Because of the lip. Have you ever seen a grizzly bear scream with all the drool?”

Shortly thereafter, Colbert asked if Skarsgard could teach him how to execute Pennywise's iconic and creepy smile. It was then that after a bit of preparation, Colbert gave it the old college try. While Colbert's version failed to reveal his upper teeth, the shape of his mouth was quite similar to Skarsgard's. If this teaches us anything it's that Skarsgard is absurdly talented at being terrifying even without the Pennywise makeup, and that no one save for Tim Curry has embraced the role of King's killer clown so completely.

During the interview, Skarsgard also gave Colbert a brief overview of his family tree in addition to talking about how many have compared him to a young Steve Buscemi.

You can watch the full interview below:

IT: CHAPTER TWO is in theaters now and has already amassed $185 million in box office dollars since its Thursday preview screenings last week.

Here's the official synopsis for IT: CHAPTER TWO:

Twenty-seven years after the horrific events of the summer of 1989, It (Bill Skarsgård) returns. The Losers' Club fulfills their promises and returns to Derry to put an end to the shape-shifting beast once and for all.

The sequel and (potentially) final chapter of Muschietti’s Stephen King adaptation stars Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Dancing Clown as well as the adult Losers Club cast, of which includes James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean. Reprising their roles as the Losers Club kids are Jaeden Lieberher, Wyatt Oleff, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer.