CASTLE ROCK: Bill Skarsgård on Diving Back into the Stephen King Universe

Bill Skarsgård made a splash when he played Pennywise in 2017’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT, and he didn’t stray far in the aftermath. Skarsgård plays a vital—and mysterious—role in Hulu’s CASTLE ROCK, an original drama based on the terrifying town that played a key role in many of King’s stories.

But understandably, Skarsgård was initially a bit hesitant about signing on to another King project so close to IT. “I was a little bit reluctant to [join the show]—everything was very secretive about this project,” Skarsgård told reporters before the show’s Comic-Con panel. “I was reluctant because I was like, I had just done something in that world, and I don’t know how that interferes with that IT narrative. But as soon as they allowed me to read the pilot, that all changed. I fell in love with the show; I thought it was an amazingly strong pilot. I met Sam [Shaw] and Dusty [Thomason], the writers, and just loved those guys, so at that point it was, ‘I’m in. I really want to do this.'”

Though viewers will have a lot of questions about Skarsgård’s unnamed prisoner—whose appearance in Shawshank Prison sets off a town-wide chain of events—the actor was able to get a bit more information. “Even in the meeting before I got the role, they told me a little bit about the character,” he shared. “But they didn’t tell me where it was going. They didn’t explain the mystery to me. [However,] when I got the job, it was really important for me to know what my character knew at every given point…otherwise I’m gambling on hitting the right tone.”

Check out the video for more from Skarsgård!

CASTLE ROCK, Series Premiere, Wednesday, July 25, Hulu

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