Facing Pennywise again

SINCE his starring roles in the 2017 horror thriller, It, and 2019 superhero film Shazam!, Jack Dylan Grazer is on a roll.

The 16-year-old will next be seen reprising his role as young Eddie Kaspbrak in flashbacks to James Ransone’s adult Eddie in It: Chapter 2 (in cinemas here on Sept 5).

Directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama, It), this sequel also sees the return (in flashbacks) of the rest of The Losers Club – Bill Denbrough (played by Jaedan Martell), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff).

Besides Ransone, the adult versions of The Losers Club members are played by James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa and Andy Bean.

It: Chapter 2 picks up the story of the members of The Losers Club, now all grown up but still scarred by their horrific battle with Pennywise years ago. However, they are all forced to return to their hometown to battle that ancient cosmic evil again.

During a tele-conference interview with Grazer in California, organised by Warner Bros Malaysia, the actor said he is “so excited for the world to see It 2 after how well it did the first time”.

It is based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, which had already been adapted for TV earlier in a highly-acclaimed mini-series.

Grazer had watched the mini-series prior to this but did not want to emulate the character.

He said: “I did not want to take too much from the original because I wanted to make it my own. I also could relate to Eddie a lot. So I put a lot of myself in that. It was a big collaboration with [director] Andy’s vision as well.”

He also got to bond with Ransone who plays the older Eddie. “There was this acting coach called Benjamin Perkins who was guiding us .... We all clicked instantly.”

It: Chapter 2 was also a reunion for the original members of The Losers Club.

“It was beautiful,” Grazer recalled. “We had so much fun the first time and so it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was super, super happy to be with my friends again.”

Did he feel that people could relate to them because, in some ways, most of us feel we are part of a losers club?

“Yeah for sure,” he said. “A lot of the times, underdogs in films are the ones who rise. It is pretty cool. These are not the popular kids, these are not the cool kids, they are the outcasts. But in the end, they rise and they are the winners.”

As for facing up to the evil clown Pennywise, Grazer said while he is not afraid of clowns in general (he’s more freaked out by dolls and birds, especially pigeons which he calls “the rats of the sky”), he was still “taken aback ... surprised, I think fear was one of the emotions I had” when he saw actor Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise for the first time.

“I was like... Whoa! This is incredible. When he started acting, it was even better.”

When asked his take on this sequel, Grazer said: “There were big shoes to fill but it was Andy’s vision that separated this film from the original. He made it his own. It was really great.”

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