From Derry, Maine to Los Angeles, the cast of IT: Chapter Two cleaned up nicely for the premiere of the film at the Regency Village Theater last week.
Both sets of the Losers’ Club members young and adult pulled up to the red carpet and luckily no sign of Pennywise. Just Bill Skarsgard sans the freaky makeup and prosthetics.
In IT: Chapter Two the cast is grown up and leading their own lives away from the eerie small town, and demented clown that once traumatized them. 27 years later they all reconvene to face their personal fears and take on Pennywise once again.
While the tented, air conditioned carpet was a nice production, the true spectacle was seeing the adult cast pose with their younger counterparts during the photocall. Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain wore a beautiful emerald green gown that made her seem to be floating effortlessly down the carpet.
She took on the role of Beverly Marsh in the film and was joined by Bill Hader who played the older version of Finn Wolfhard’s (Stranger Things) character Richie. Isaiah Mustafa – who we all might recognize from the Old Spice commercials – was also present because he plays adult Mike.
I could keep going but you guys get the point. It was basically like seeing double! On the carpet we had the chance to speak with some of the cast including Jeremy Ray Taylor who plays young Ben.
“It’s a freaky thing to have an older self because not many people can say that they’ve met their older selves. It was little nerve-racking and we had a few choices but I was never really happy with it,” He said. “When Andy sent me the picture of Jay Ryan it was just uncanny and our eyes are the same. It’s really insane to have someone that looks like your doppelganger.”
Don’t worry the young crew is not left out of the picture. The same bunch from the 2017 film can be seen throughout chapter two in scary flashbacks the adults have showcasing their childhood traumas. “I think the audience is more connected to the characters coming into chapter two,” saids Teach Grant who plays the adult version of bully Henry Bowers. He’s right, with almost 3 hours of film length we really get to explore more of each character individually.
Not to mention, the film does an excellent job at approaching themes regarding homophobia, racism, and other issues that are still prevalent in today’s society. A lot of that can be attributed to the director Andy Muschietti and author Stephen King himself for vividly including such instances in his books to begin with.
Similar to other Stephen King based movies, IT: Chapter Two uses psychological horror by having the clown manifest itself in the characters worst fears. The main take away? Just don’t be afraid! Seems simple, but it’s true. At the end of the day, we can all agree that fear holds us all back to some degree and the film has a parallel way of showing this as it pertains to one personally.
The film opens in theaters this Friday, Sept. 6, so get ready to be scared! However, if you’re one of those people who hate clowns you might want to sit this one out.