IT CHAPTER TWO: Finn Wolfhard Thinks Richie's Secret "Totally Made Sense"

While Warner Bros. and Andy Muschietti's IT CHAPTER TWO stayed incredibly true to Stephen King's original IT novel, the second half of the big screen adaptation did make a pretty massive change to one of its major character. It was revealed in the new film that the loud-mouthed Richie Tolzier is gay, a secret that he's been ashamed to let others know about for nearly his whole life. Not only that, but Richie had long been in love with his close friend Eddie Kaspbrak.

This was certainly a surprising direction for the character, one that was never mentioned in the book, but it was met with fairly warm reception. Even King himself was a fan of the new direction for Richie, appreciating the depth that it added to his arc. Among those who dug Richie's turn was Finn Wolfhard, who played the young version of the character in the IT films.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wolfhard opened up about Richie's storyline in the films, and said that he loved what Muschietti and his older counterpart Bill Hader were able to do with it.

"I thought it totally made sense," said Wolfhard. "Again, it's ambiguous. You don't really know for sure. Some fans think it's real, and some fans don't. I think that's what's interesting about making these movies because they're not the exact same as the book. And I thought it totally made sense because in the first movie, he has the clown scene, but there's something more than that that's deep inside. It's something that he's so ashamed of that he doesn't even bring it up to his friends until it shows in the second movie. He's still in the closet when he's 40, and once they finally defeat Pennywise, the fear goes away. You're finally comfortable with who you are. I think Andy [Muschietti] and Bill really captured it beautifully."

Nearly every other character in IT had something about their past that they wanted to hide, and this change gave Richie a parallel storyline that packed an emotional punch on par with the others.

What did you think of Richie's twist in IT CHAPTER TWO? Let us know in the comments!