Buzz
Stephen King has given us an array of unforgettable villains, from the rabid dog Cujo to the sinister Randall Flagg of The Stand and The Dark Tower. However, none may rival Pennywise, the cruel clown from King's monumental 1986 novel It, which has left a lasting impression on our collective fear.
Pennywise isn't exactly the central antagonist of It. Instead, the clown is just one of many forms a sinister entity adopts to torment the children of Derry, Maine. Though they think they've defeated him, he resurfaces every 27 years. Still, Pennywise has made an unforgettable impact on popular culture, inspiring widespread fear of clowns and becoming iconic beyond King's pages in the cult classic 1990 miniseries and two major film adaptations. If you want to know more about Pennywise, you're in the right place.
1. Stephen King chose to make Pennywise a clown because of their ability to frighten children.
Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, has existed long before Stephen King began crafting It in the early 1980s. But what makes clowns appear as frightening outcasts? Some historians suggest it’s rooted in the role of the court jester, who could escape punishment from royal authorities and was seen as being outside regular social norms. In this liminal space, it was easy to envision clowns as having a darker, more sinister nature.
While figures like Ronald McDonald embody friendly clowns, there’s also the infamous John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer from the '70s who performed as a clown at children’s parties. In 1912, clown-con artist Charles Conway murdered a roommate in Chicago before escaping from prison. Simply put, clowns have been invoking fear for a long time.
For It, King wanted to create a villain capable of morphing into some of the most iconic monsters of the 20th century. “I thought to myself, ‘I’ll get [as many] of the monsters together as I possibly can; I’ll get the Vampire, I’ll get the Werewolf, and I’ll even get the Mummy,’” King said in 2013. “But then I thought to myself, ‘There ought to be one binding, horrible, nasty, gross, creature kind of thing that you don’t want to see, [and] it makes you scream just to see it.’ So I thought to myself, ‘What scares children more than anything else in the world?’ And the answer was ‘clowns.’”
2. Pennywise’s greatest adversary is a turtle.
Within the sprawling world of It, Pennywise represents some of the universe's most ruthless evil. In contrast, his counterpart is Maturin, a wise and gentle turtle whom Bill Denbrough of the Losers’ Club encounters while journeying through the 'Macroverse,' the realm where Pennywise is said to originate. Maturin offers Bill guidance on how to confront the terrifying clown. Though none of the film adaptations feature the turtle, 2019’s It Chapter Two references a hallucinogenic root named Marturin, which helps Bill gain insight into defeating Pennywise.
3. Alice Cooper was once considered for the role of Pennywise.
As is common with many of King’s novels, It was optioned for an adaptation. Initially, George A. Romero, the director of Night of the Living Dead, was slated to direct, having previously collaborated with King on the 1982 anthology film Creepshow. However, Romero balked at the four-hour limit ABC set for the miniseries, desiring closer to eight hours. He eventually left the project and was replaced by director Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch), who began the search for a Pennywise.
Actors Roddy McDowall, Malcolm McDowell, and musician Alice Cooper were all considered for the role of Pennywise, which ultimately went to Tim Curry, who won the part thanks to his over-the-top performance in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Interestingly, McDowall had previously starred in a 1967 horror film titled It!, where he played a character battling a vengeful golem in a museum.
4. Tim Curry described Pennywise as a ‘smile gone bad.’
Tim Curry's unforgettable portrayal of Pennywise cemented the clown's place in horror. Though he’s rarely discussed the role in later years, Curry shared with Fangoria in 1990 that he saw Pennywise as a master of psychological torment. “Pennywise turns out not to be that physical, actually—it’s mostly mental cruelty,” he explained. “What’s fun about him is that a clown is traditionally a cozy, comforting figure, but Pennywise is none of these things. I always think of him as a smile gone bad—that’s how I see him.”
5. Curry terrified the young actor who played Georgie.
Looking back at his time as Pennywise in 2017, Curry shared that he managed to frighten Tony Dakota, the young actor who played the doomed Georgie Denbrough. “There’s that iconic scene where little Georgie sends his paper boat floating down the gutter, and when he reaches for it, Pennywise grabs his hand and says, ‘Down here we float,’” Curry recalled. “The boy playing Georgie pulled his hand away and said, ‘You’re scaring me!’ I replied, ‘Sorry, I’m supposed to.’”
6. Pennywise makes appearances in other Stephen King novels.
Though Pennywise is defeated at the end of It, King has resurrected the character in other works. The most prominent reference is in his 1987 novel The Tommyknockers, where a character passes through Derry and believes he sees a clown lurking in a storm drain. In Dreamcatcher (2001), another character notices a spray-painted message reading ‘Pennywise Lives’ on a water tower in Derry. While King has hinted at the world of It in various books, these two references suggest that Pennywise may not be finished with his reign of terror just yet.
7. Will Poulter was nearly Pennywise.
It was only a matter of time before It became a Hollywood franchise. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga joined the project in 2012, with Will Poulter (Midsommar) set to fill the clown's shoes. However, when Fukunaga departed in 2015, the idea fell apart. Director Andy Muschietti later brought the first part of the adaptation to the big screen in 2017, casting Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise.
“I was really, really intrigued by the possibility of working with Will,” Muschietti shared with Deadline in 2017. “I always thought he would make an amazing Pennywise. We had some discussions about it, even though Cary wasn’t on board anymore. Will expressed that he’d gradually distanced himself from the role, feeling that it was too dark and unsettling. It was a personal choice I respected, but I was excited to find my own Pennywise, and that’s exactly what we did.”
8. There’s a third version of Pennywise you’ve probably never seen.
While Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgård are widely regarded as the only two actors to have portrayed Pennywise on screen, the evil clown has appeared in a third incarnation. In 1998, an Indian television adaptation titled Woh featured M. M. Faruqui (also known as Lilliput) in the role. The directors, Ankush Mohla and Glen Baretto, had never actually read King’s novel; Mohla was simply drawn to the book’s synopsis on the dust jacket. The setting was moved from Maine to the Indian town of Panchgani, and Pennywise wasn’t a manifestation of pure evil but rather a man mocked for being too short.
Remarkably, the series ran for 52 episodes. Mohla and Baretto took creative liberties with the storyline: in this version, Georgie meets his end in a swimming pool rather than a sewer.
9. John Wayne Gacy created a portrait of Pennywise.
Gacy, who was convicted of over 30 gruesome murders in the early 1980s and gained notoriety for his role as a party clown, was executed by lethal injection in 2018. During his time in prison, he turned to painting. Among his creations was a portrait of Pennywise.
10. Pennywise is set to return on HBO Max.
Proving that the terrifying clown has staying power, HBO Max has announced plans to bring Pennywise back for a new series. In March 2022, the streaming service revealed a prequel titled Welcome to Derry, set in the It universe. The series will explore the clown’s reign of terror in Derry, Maine, long before the events of It. Andy Muschietti, director of the It films, will serve as a producer alongside his wife, Barbara Muschietti. Perhaps this time, there will be a turtle.
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