‘IT: Chapter Two’: Bill Hader Says He Was Terrible at Acting Scared

The horror hit of 2017 is finally getting its followup later this year, as we check back in with Steven King’s Losers Club in IT: Chapter Two.

But the kids of Derry have all grown up, and many of them have moved on from the plagued small town. So the characters will now be played by adult actors, including former Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader.

Though Hader has numerous dramatic roles to his credit, this is will be the actor’s biggest role in a horror film — and it might show. The actor spoke with Conan O’Brien about his new film, revealing that he had a trouble with smiling too much on the set.

“This is my first horror movie, and I’m terrible at acting scared, apparently,” Hader revealed. “When I’m scared, I think I smile. Like, I get nervous and I smile… We would do takes and the director Andy Muschetti would come and he’s like, ‘Bill, you need to be scared, man.’ I go, I was terrified! He goes, ‘No man, you’re smiling the whole time. What’s wrong with you?’

“And it’s true. Yeah, I’m just like, ‘Oh guys! We gotta get out of here! Pennywise is here!’” Hader said with a grin.

Conan joked that Hader is singlehandedly ruining IT: Chapter Two, and Hader didn’t deny it.

Of course we have no doubt that the upcoming film will be scary, considering how well its predecessor did in frightening audiences. And other actors from the set claim they were frightened just during the filming process.

James McAvoy spoke about Bill Skarsgard’s role as Pennywise during an appearance on Good Morning America, stating that he was frequently terrified.

“He’s amazing. The guy who plays the clown is terrifying,” McAvoy said. “He’s a lovely guy, and yet he really freaked me out. I remember standing there with the rest of the cast, all these adults, and we’d all done weird freaky stuff. And we are all looking at each other going, ‘I don’t like being here. I don’t like being an actor today.’ He really did, he really freaked me out. I never liked clowns as a kid.”

Fans will get to see McAvoy and Hader clash with Pennywise the Clown when IT: Chapter Two premieres in theaters on September 6th.