IT CHAPTER TWO Writer Details Why He Wanted to Explore Richie’s “Secret”

IT CHAPTER TWO writer Gary Dauberman explains why the film was more overt than Stephen King’s [...]

IT CHAPTER TWO writer Gary Dauberman explains why the film was more overt than Stephen King's novel when navigating the "secret" harbored by a grown-up Richie Tozier (Bill Hader). Spoilers to follow. In the 27-years-later second chapter, Richie is one of the Losers called back to Derry, Maine, triggering long-forgotten memories caused by an encounter with IT (Bill Skarsgård). A flashback, not seen in the first chapter, shows a teenaged Richie (Finn Wolfhard) tormented by bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) for being gay; when caught alone, Pennywise gleefully taunts Richie for being in on his "secret," later expressed when adult Richie makes clear his feelings for Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) by carving their initials into a bridge.

"There is a subtext in the novel and [director] Andy [Muschietti] and [producer] Barbara [Muschietti] and I talked about it, but it didn't feel like a choice, it just felt like a natural part of his character," Dauberman explained to THR. "But, I love that love story. I think that is a special part of the movie and a special part of the character. Because it felt like it was part of his character. I think we pulled it out more, and it is more prominent in the movie. It is a part of the many things that define him."

The idea for Richie to carve his and Eddie's initials, which comes when the adult Losers find more self-acceptance after coming together to defeat IT a second time, is created to Muschietti. "It was a great way to button that up," Dauberman said.

Now a successful comedian, the motor-mouthed Richie adds much-needed — if sometimes inappropriate — levity when reunited with the Losers, who learn they're doomed to suffer tragic fates unless they kill IT once and for all. The cheeky lines delivered by Hader, who is praised in many critics' reviews as a standout, were sometimes scripted and sometimes improvised by the Saturday Night Live alum.

"I can tell you there is no joke I wrote where I went, 'I hope Bill sticks to the script,'" Dauberman said. "Andy does a lot of takes. Bill likes to improv, so there are a lot of jokes in the movie that are his improv. But, there are also jokes that were in the script."

Also starring James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff and Andy Bean, IT CHAPTER TWO is now playing.

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