#PennywiseSmileChallenge Has ‘It’ Fans Attempting Bill Skarsgård’s Creepy Grin

Following the debut of It: Chapter Two, which currently sits at No. 1 in the domestic box office, Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgård stopped by Colbert to give a tutorial on how to pull off his insanely creepy smile. Explaining his method has resulted in people attempting to copy his performance in the film. 

Horror-based publication Bloody Disgusting put out a call to get It fans to impersonate the evil dancing clown’s smile with the hashtag #PennywiseSmileChallenge. 

While some of the results missed the mark almost completely, some were blessed with elastic-enough faces that they were able to nail Pennywise’s look.

Some attempts definitely need more work than others.

Nothing quite beats the real thing, as Bill Hader learned while filming the sequel.

Speaking on the genesis of the look he went for with Pennywise’s smile, Skarsgård told Colbert he was inspired by animal documentaries and Tim Curry’s performance as the shapeshifting monster. 

“Obviously, Tim Curry did this iconic performance of Pennywise and we were remaking it and I got to fill these huge clown shoes, and they’re big shoes to fill,” he explained. “And so we were like, ‘OK, how can we make this different?’ … As I was preparing the character, I was like, ‘Oh, I guess he’s a little bit hyena and a little bit grizzly bear.”