Ben Hanscom in the IT Movies: Actor, Story and Fate

Ben Hanscom is one of the seven outcasts who form the Losers Club in Derry, Maine. In It (2017), directed by Andy Muschietti, he teams up with Beverly and Mike, then joins Bill, Richie, Eddie and Stan after clashes with Henry Bowers and his gang, who pick on anyone who stands out. Ben is credited as Ben Hanscom, and the younger version in the sequel is credited as Young Ben Hanscom.

The films give each kid a personal nightmare, and Ben is no exception. Pennywise shapes its visions around what each child fears most, and the group learns that the creature they call It wakes about every 27 years to feed on Derry's children. The saga is adapted from Stephen King's novel, and the films keep the Losers Club and the 27 year cycle at the center.

Two actors play him on screen. Jeremy Ray Taylor plays Ben in It (2017), billed second, and is credited as Young Ben Hanscom in it chapter two. Jay Ryan plays the adult Ben in that sequel, billed fifth.

Ben also exists on television, which is where many searches for the older versions of him lead. In the 1990 miniseries, John Ritter played the adult Ben and Brandon Crane played the boy. That miniseries and HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) are separate television productions, so neither is covered as a film here. For the full group, see our guide to the losers club it and the wider list of it characters.

Ben's most important relationship is with Beverly Marsh, and the films treat it as a slow bond rather than a sudden romance. In It (2017), Beverly shares a farewell kiss with Bill Denbrough as summer ends and she prepares to leave town, which leaves some viewers asking whether she liked Bill or Ben. The sewers scene is the counterweight, because it is Ben's kiss that wakes Beverly from her trance. Both moments exist in the film, and the sequel settles the question: Ben and Beverly end up together.

Bill is Ben's other key tie. Bill leads the group's search for his brother Georgie, and Ben follows him into the Neibolt house and back into the sewers. Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak complete the circle of boys that Ben joins, alongside Stanley Uris and Mike Hanlon.

On the other side stands Henry Bowers. The bully targets Ben alongside the other outcasts, and he attacks the boys on their way back to rescue Beverly, which ends with Mike pushing him down a well. For the villain at the center of it all, see pennywise.

In my opinion, Ben's best moment is the sewer scene in It (2017), when his kiss pulls Beverly out of her trance. It could be argued that the film hands the rescue to Ben because the others have spent the story fighting, and a very small act of kindness does what the fighting could not. The scene works as a set piece because the horror stops for a beat.

A second favorite is the choice the Losers make when Pennywise offers to let them go if they leave Bill behind. Ben is part of the refusal, and the group fighting together is what finally wounds the creature. The scene shows the Losers Club as an ensemble, not a lead and some helpers.

In the sequel, perhaps the most satisfying beat is the ending. Once the curse is broken, Ben and Beverly end up together, which pays off the sewers kiss twenty seven years later. If you are new to the saga, start with it movies in order and watch both Ben performances in sequence.