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  • but denying his genetic talents would have denied

  • the world of one of the century's

  • Bill Skarsgård was predestined for the stage

  • His father, Stellan Skarsgård, known for

  • his roles in 'Good Will Hunting,'

  • 'Amistad,' and the 'Mama Mia' films,

  • would turn his films' productions into

  • family vacations for his wife

  • and eight children.

  • Like you're 8 years old and you're on a set

  • and your dad's likeyour dad is your dad

  • but like on set he has a gun,

  • fake mustache and like the whole thing.

  • So for me, like as a kid, that's what

  • you do being a kid. Playing like

  • with your friends. So the appeal of

  • this imaginary, fantastical way

  • of just being paid and being an adult

  • an d acting like a child

  • I think was planted at a very young age.

  • Bill's first acting credit was at the age of 9

  • alongside his older brother Alexander

  • in the Swedish coming-of-age flick

  • 'White Water Fury,' which was released in 2000.

  • Bill spent the next decade using his father's

  • connections and natural talent to

  • book small roles, but he

  • His rebellion even led him to major in science

  • in high school, joking that

  • he would become a doctor.

  • However, when he read the script for

  • Hannes Holm's 'Behind Blue Skies,'

  • his passion was ignited.

  • Bill landed that role, and three years later

  • realized his breakout star potential in

  • Netflix's 'Hemlock Grove.'

  • 'Sheeit. Sheeit. Sheeit.'

  • While Bill was portraying cocky,

  • sex-obsessed vampire Roman Godfrey,

  • Alexander was finishing up his own

  • blood-sucking tenure on HBO's 'True Blood'

  • and preparing to take on the role of

  • a former rainforest Adonis in

  • 'The Legend of Tarzan.'

  • His older brother Gustaf has starred in

  • History's 'Vikings' and HBO's 'Westworld,'

  • while little brother Valter brings up

  • the rear of the Skarsgård actors

  • with a majority of his acting credits

  • being in Sweden so far.

  • Bill has also held supporting roles in

  • the third installment of the 'Divergent'

  • franchise, 'Allegiant,' and the

  • Charlize Theron led 'Atomic Blonde,'

  • but it's undeniable that he was born

  • for the sinister side of cinema.

  • For 'IT,' a reimagining of the 1990

  • mini-series based on Stephen King's

  • 1986 novel, Bill transforms into

  • the demonic dancing clown Pennywise,

  • who plagues the town of Derry

  • every 27 years by kidnapping

  • and feasting on its children.

  • "Tasty, tasty, beautiful fear"

  • He often tells the story of driving to

  • his audition in full clown-face and

  • laughing maniacally to get into character,

  • but the fact that

  • is less well known.

  • "I wanted to give Pennywise a

  • wild eye because in my vision of the

  • character is sometimes his eye would fall off.

  • And something very cute and sweet turns

  • into something much more unsettling

  • because he has that weird balance

  • So when I mentioned that

  • I wanted to do that digitally he said,

  • 'I can do it.'

  • I had kind of a lazy eye and

  • I can like make it go."

  • 'IT: Chapter 2,' featuring an

  • all-grown-up Loser's Club, will premiere

  • in fall of 2019. Meanwhile, Bill is

  • still exploring the world of Stephen King

  • in Hulu's “Castle Rock.'

  • This 10-episode miniseries pulls from

  • King's stories to create a thrilling

  • and unsettling multiverse.

  • Bill started the Keto Diet before

  • filming to lose weight because he wanted to

  • enhance his mysterious character's creepiness with

  • No doubt, Bill Skarsgård has given children

  • nightmares and horror fans wet dreams.

  • "I like dark stories, dark characters,

  • it's fun. I don't like doing the same thing

  • over and over again. So I'll do

  • a happy rom-com next, I think."

  • [Creepy laugh]

  • His family ties might have gotten him

  • into the acting business, but the

  • commitment and fearlessness that

  • he brings to every role has propelled him

  • into an eerily affecting league of his own.

  • "You'll flat down here. We all float down here"-

but denying his genetic talents would have denied

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