It movie: Pennywise actor ‘thought something TERRIBLE would happen’

The Stephen King horror adaptation surprised pundits earlier this month when it rocketed to an opening box office gross of over $120 million; netting an additional $60 million in its second weekend.

Skarsgard, speaking on Variety’s Playback podcast, said the success is far beyond what he had allowed himself to expect.

“It’s been really weird for me. I’m almost a bit confused by the whole thing,” he admitted.

“When I got the job, it was a huge deal for me, obviously – I knew there was a lot of anticipation for the project and the character itself.

“But I didn’t allow myself to hope for anything. I feel like if I’d hoped for success…”

He went on: “At the back of my head, even coming up to the release – people were like, ‘it’s going to do this well!’

“And then the box office surprised everybody. Even the most optimistic projections were like half of it!

“Up until everything, I just felt like something really terrible was going to happen to me personally – thing just seemed to be going too well.”