Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 5 of It: Welcome to Derry, now available on HBO Max.
Pennywise the Clown feeds on fear, and his main dish is children.
When the first episode of HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry” introduced an ensemble of young protagonists, viewers might have reasonably expected them to be the main characters of the series and the show’s answer to the Losers’ Club of early adolescent heroes from Stephen King’s novel and film “It.”
But in the shocking conclusion of episode one, more than half of the children meet a tragic fate, leaving a clear message that no one is safe in the eponymous town.
So, with the introduction of new kids across episodes two, three, and four, it’s natural to be skeptical about their persistence on the show, especially if they enter the story through different paths. However, in episode 5, they finally team up and enter the sewers below Derry, where they come face to face with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård).
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The children are Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James), Lily Bainbridge (Clara Stack), Veronica “Ronnie” Grogan (Amanda Christine), Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya), and Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler). Variety interviewed the young cast about how they were able to get on the show and how they cultivated the courage to steal the series’ scariest scenes.
How did you all find out about playing your character in Welcome to Derry?
Clara Stack: It was a complete shock because I only found out a few months after the audition. My mom first found out about it through my agent, and then my family sat me down on the couch in the living room and told me about it. Honestly, I was shocked and very excited. It was such a great experience to be able to go to Toronto for the shoot. It was honestly an honor to explore the world of Stephen King’s It.
Matilda Lawler: I was so excited when I found out I had booked Marge. I’m obsessed with merging. She really spoke to me when I auditioned and it wasn’t until a few months later that I found out I was going to play her. I think there was a dance recital on the weekend. Right before I did this dance show, I found out that I was going to play Marge, and my heart grew three times bigger. I was so excited that I definitely danced better than usual.
Amanda Christine: When I auditioned, I only sent in one take. It was top secret, so when I auditioned I didn’t even know what the show was because they had names like “Fairview.” It was very intense. It was at the end of episode 2, when my father was taken to Shawshank. So it was a very powerful scene for me. It was a lot of fun to shoot. And when I received the script, I thought, “Oh my god, I’m Ronnie Grogan.” Then I was learning about the world of It, watching the movie with my castmates, really diving into that world, taking notes with Andy[Muschietti]and Barbara[Muschietti]and meeting with Mr. Ben[Perkins]the acting coach.
Arian S. Cartaya: If I remember correctly, I was at my grandmother’s house when my mother opened her email and found out the news. I started bouncing off the walls with excitement.
Blake Cameron James: I think I was downstairs in the basement. Well, actually, I don’t know where I was. I can’t remember. somewhere in my house.
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Has anyone seen the movie “It” or read Stephen King’s book?
Blake Cameron James: Not really. I hadn’t read the book. I didn’t watch any movies because I was so scared of Pennywise. He’s always been my biggest fear, as well as my biggest fear number one. So I’ve never done that.
Ariane S. Cartaya: I saw the first “It” movie after I arrived in Canada. We all watched it at the movie theater. Well, it was a really fun experience. But I haven’t read the book yet.
Amanda Christine: I saw the movie a few months before I found out I had booked the role of Ronnie. I was actually taking an acting class when I was watching it. Since it was Halloween time in October, our assignment was to watch a Halloween movie. So I saw “It” and it was scary. I thought, “Oh my god, I’ve never seen such a scary clown in my life!” Since then, I started reading the book. It’s huge, but I’m halfway through and still trying to dig deeper and take notes about “it” world. Because it’s so big and there’s so much going on. And this prequel series dives into so much more: mythology, nuclear issues, tensions of racial trauma, bullying of children, and how we all come together as friends to confront it.
Matilda Lawler: I’m in the same position as Amanda. I’m trying to get through the book. It’s really different. I’m a fan of Stephen King as a writer and I think he’s very powerful. My favorite horror movies are “The Shining” and “Carrie.” I love his work. So, I’m a big fan and decided to see the movie for my sister’s birthday. Because that was her birthday wish. And I got so scared that I forced myself to turn it off. I literally couldn’t stand it and had a meltdown. And my sister, knowing that I was so scared, tried to torment me by showing me pictures of Pennywise, as if she were showing me random pictures of Pennywise. That’s what brothers do. Anyway, when I auditioned, I watched the movie again and was able to pass without any confusion. I completely fell in love with it. I was scared, but I also love the quirky humor that Andy incorporates. I was hooked.
Clara Stack: Actually, I’m a big fan of horror movies. I’ve been like that since I was little. I saw the first “It” movie when I was about 9 years old, so I was already a little familiar with the “It” world. I hadn’t read the book before the audition, but I think Stephen King is very talented and I’m a big fan of his work. To be honest, it was a great honor to step into space with this prequel series.
Brooke Palmer/HBO
Has making the show ever made you feel scared, or has making the show made horror movies less scary?
Matilda Lawler: I think it’s scary on set, but sometimes it feels a little silly because you don’t really react to anything. Half the time I’m just reacting to the air or the tape or Andy yelling weirdly into the microphone. It’s a strange experience, but our acting coach Ben did a really good job helping us create a sense of fear, even if it wasn’t right in front of us. We created a safe space to be vulnerable and get in touch with our own personal fears and the fears of our characters. Sometimes they played music, sometimes they showed images that were scary to us, and sometimes they touched on personal experiences. It was really helpful to have an acting tool that could help me at times like that.
Amanda Stack: I think some of the scenes were definitely really scary. There were a lot of intense scenes, but I think having Andy and Barbara and our acting coach Mr. Ben on set made everything so much more comfortable. They made the set feel like a very welcoming place and made us feel like family. I think it made shooting more fun and easier, so I’m very grateful. It was a lot of fun to shoot. There were definitely some intense and scary scenes, but I also think it was really cool to add in all the CGI and effects and see the contrast between when they were shot and on screen.
Amanda Christine: There’s definitely a difference between seeing it on a screen with all the CGI and VFX and all that added and seeing it in person. It’s so amazing to see how everything comes together and how scary it is. Directly, we needed to connect to something deep. Music is a big part of my life, so I use it to express my characters, but having the tools to build characters and arcs and everything else that I need is really great for me. It was a lot of fun. Andy and Barbara made the environment very welcoming for us, and Mr. Ben did the same. It was a really great experience.
Blake Cameron James: To be honest, I’ve gotten a little more interested in horror after this, but I still don’t watch a lot of scary stuff. It’s a very thin line, but when you deal with Pennywise and corpses and lots of blood, you become desensitized to that, so I feel like this show helped out a little bit. When you go on set, you see it in a different light. So you’re saying, “Oh, it’s a prosthetic limb. Oh, it’s fake.”
Ariane S. Cartaya: I feel like this experience helped me overcome my fear a little bit, but other scary movies and shows still scare me, so I don’t watch anything else. those are too scary.
These interviews have been edited and condensed.
