Pennywise: The Dancing Clown of IT, Explained

Pennywise the Dancing Clown is the clown form of a creature the Losers Club simply calls It, and in the IT movies he is played by Bill Skarsgård, who is credited as Pennywise in both It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019). Both films were directed by Andy Muschietti, and Skarsgård holds the same billing position, eighth, in each.

The character comes from Stephen King's novel IT, where the clown is one disguise of an ancient shape-shifter, and where he also introduces himself as Robert "Bob" Gray. On television, Tim Curry played the clown in the 1990 miniseries, and the character returns in the HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry (2025). Those are not films, so this profile follows the two theatrical movies.

In the films he first appears in October 1988 in Derry, Maine, where young Georgie Denbrough follows a paper boat into a storm drain and is grabbed by the clown. From there the creature works as a predator that studies its prey. According to the plot of It (2017), each member of the Losers Club sees a terrifying vision tailored to their own fears, and the creature wakes about every 27 years to feed on Derry's children. So, if you are wondering what makes Pennywise so evil, the films show a creature that preys on children and, when the Losers stand up to it, tries to split them apart.

For the wider cast, see our IT cast page and the full list of IT characters.

Pennywise's most important relationship is with the seven members of the Losers Club, because he treats each one as a separate meal with a separate fear. Bill Denbrough is the closest to him in a personal sense, since the clown took Bill's brother Georgie in the opening of It (2017). Beverly Marsh is the one he snatches in It (2017), and she is also the one who drives a spike into his head and later stabs him in the face.

The others meet him through nightmares built for them. Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Ben Hanscom, Mike Hanlon and Stanley Uris each see visions tailored to their own fears, and the group as a whole is known as the Losers Club. In Chapter Two, Stanley dies by suicide rather than return to Derry, which shows how much dread the clown leaves behind even while dormant.

Henry Bowers, the local bully, attacks the kids in It (2017) and, after escaping from an asylum, goes after the adult group in Chapter Two.

In my opinion, the best Pennywise scene is still the opening in the storm drain in It (2017), because Georgie loses his paper boat to the drain and is grabbed by the clown, and the whole saga grows out of that single moment. It sets the stakes for everything after: the creature preys on children, and no one in Derry is coming to help.

My second pick is the Neibolt Street house sequence, where the Losers follow their research to the creature's way into the sewers. It could be argued that this is where the Losers first fight back, since the encounter ends with Beverly driving a spike into the creature's head and It retreating, though Ben is hurt.

In Chapter Two, I would point to the moment the Losers mock the creature until it shrinks. Perhaps it is a risky choice for a horror finale, since it trades dread for ridicule. Even so, it is the most thoughtful rule the saga gives the monster: a predator that lives on terror has a problem when its prey stops being afraid. If you want to see the clown at his most menacing, start with It (2017).