James McAvoy had nightmares about his It Chapter Two castmate Bill Skarsgard as he was preparing to shoot the movie with the Swede.
The Scottish star read Stephen King’s horror tale when he was a teenager but it didn’t terrify him until he signed on to play the grown-up Bill Denbrough in the IT sequel.
As he researched the character he started having vivid dreams about Skarsgard, who plays scary clown Pennywise in the films.
“I started to have nightmares in preparation for the film,” he tells Good Morning America. “I never had that (when I was reading the book) as a kid.
“I remember waking up… I had the same nightmare twice and it was Bill, as Pennywise, lying in bed beside me, stroking my neck and stroking my back, saying, ‘James, it’s time to wake up…’ and me lying there, like, pretending to be asleep… It was horrible.”
McAvoy is thrilled the film is a big hit, but he feels terrible for the world’s clowns – because people are terrified of them thanks to Stephen King’s book and the films.
“I feel bad for clowns across the world, because we’re giving them a bad name,” he adds. “There are good clowns out there; I’m sure one in 50 doesn’t try to murder children, I’m sure.”
