The next generation of Losers Club kids in HBO Max’s It: Welcome to Derry didn’t just step into one of horror’s most iconic universes, they had to face their childhood nightmares head-on. For some of them, joining Andy Muschietti’s Stephen King prequel meant confronting their real-life fear of Pennywise The Clown.Blake Cameron James, who plays 14-year-old Will Hanlon, admitted that taking the role meant tackling a lifelong phobia. “I never watched any of the movies until I absolutely had to, because, Pennywise was always my literal number one fear. “It’s crazy full circle because [it’s] my number one biggest fear, and then I do a show for it – it’s so crazy. So I never watched any of the movies, and so I literally had to, and then I realized the story was actually really, really good.”James plays the father of Mike Hanlon, one of the original Losers Club members from It, and his story begins decades earlier. The prequel takes place in 1962, following Will and his family as they settle into Derry after his father, Major Leroy Hanlon (Jordan Adepo), is stationed there with his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige). It doesn’t take long before Will experiences the darker side of the small town, not just from Pennywise, but from Derry’s cruel history and its residents.Will soon befriends Rich (Arian S. Cartaya), another outsider, and the two form the first version of the Losers Club. And that friendship is tested in a big way when they come face-to-face with Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise. For 12-year-old Cartaya, that moment was unforgettable.“When I first met Pennywise, [Bill] was in full costume, full makeup, and it was actually the first scene we had with him. It was super scary. I think I almost crapped my pants.”While the experience was terrifying, Cartaya also shared that Skarsgård was a total professional once the cameras stopped rolling. “Bill, after the scene, he was the nicest person ever, like you actually get to talk to him and get to know him, and he’s one of the nicest [people] you’ll ever meet. But when he’s Pennywise… don’t talk to him.”Amanda Christine, who plays Veronica “Ronnie” Grogan remembered being completely thrown off by how realistic Pennywise looked in person. “It was a scary experience seeing him in person, and you would think all his teeth and like, the blood and everything gets edited on – No, that stuff was in person and in real life, and just having that right in front of you, and just how tall he is, and he’s really scary – like his demeanor in the costume. It just gives scary. It’s so scary.”Ronnie’s storyline dives into Derry’s dark paranoia as she’s ostracized by her peers after a mysterious tragedy that the townsfolk blame on her family, though fans know exactly which evil presence is behind it. Her friend Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack) is another haunted soul, still mourning her father and trying to navigate life after losing touch with her old friend Marge (Matilda Stack).Despite the nightmare-inducing experience, James praised Skarsgård for his performance and his off-screen kindness. “How tall is he? Like, 6’5 or something, 6’4. So terrifying – he has no business being that scary. I will also add, though, that Bill is a very, very nice guy, and it’s really weird because like, you’re like, ‘You look so scary. “You look like you’re gonna kill me!’ And then he’s like, ‘Hi, it’s really nice to meet you.’ It’s very disorienting, but he’s very nice, for sure.”Developed by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, It: Welcome to Derry expands the It mythology, exploring not just the town’s cursed history but also the origins of Pennywise himself. The spans multiple seasons, with future installments set to explore earlier eras of Derry’s horrors like 1935 and even 1908, while hinting at the creature’s first appearance in the 1700s.It: Welcome to Derry is streaming now on HBO Max.Source: GamesRadar+