Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (born August 9, 1990 in Vällingby, Sweden) is a Swedish actor.
Skarsgård is best known for portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of Stephen King's It. Succeeding Tim Curry's beloved portrayal of the same character, Skarsgård received much praise for his performance.
He's also recognized for portraying Roman Godfrey in the horror series Hemlock Grove, one of Netflix's first original scripted dramas. Since then, he's appeared in other mainstream American projects, like Atomic Blonde,The Divergent Series: Allegiant, John Wick: Chapter 4, and upcoming remakes The Crow (2024) and Nosferatu, where he was cast as the lead characters. He returned to the world of Stephen King in Hulu's 2018 series Castle Rock, based on various stories by the writer.
He is the third son of Stellan Skarsgård and the brother of actors Alexander, Gustaf and Valter Skarsgård.
Selected filmography:
- Simple Simon (2010) as Simon
- Simon and the Oaks (2011) as Simon
- Anna Karenina (2012) as Captain Machouten
- Hemlock Grove (2013 — 2015) as Roman Godfrey
- The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016) as Matthew
- Atomic Blonde (2017) as Merkel
- It (2017) as It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown
- It: Chapter Two (2019)
- Moomins and the Winter Wonderland (2017) as Moomintroll (voice)
- Castle Rock (2018) as "The Kid"
- Deadpool 2 (2018) as Axel Cluney / Zeitgeist
- Assassination Nation (2018) as Marty
- The Devil All the Time (2020) as Willard Russell
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (2021 — ) as Kro (voice)
- Eternals (2021)
- Clark (2022)
- Barbarian (2022) as Keith
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) as the Marquis de Gramont
- Boy Kills World (2024) as Boy
- Robert Eggers' upcoming Nosferatu remake as Count Orlok
- Rupert Sanders' upcoming The Crow remake as Eric Draven
Tropes associated with Skarsgård:
- Character Tic: He can turn down his lower lip while smiling, a family trait that he incorporated into Pennywise.
- Fake American: Like his brother Alex, he's played Americans in some of his roles such as Matthew in Divergent: Allegiant, "The Kid" in Castle Rock, Axel Cluney/Zeitgeist in Deadpool 2 and Willard Russell in The Devil All The Time.
- Family Business: Stellan Skarsgård is his father, Alexander Skarsgård and Gustaf Skarsgård are his older brothers.
- Fish Eyes: He actually learned a trick to unfocus his eyes, which he used to great effect in It (2017).
- Friend to All Children: He high-fives the child-actors of the Losers Club, asking if they were ready to kick his ass before filming the battle scene.
- Kubrick Stare: He can be seen sporting this look here and there.
- Mr. Fanservice: Gets shirtless/naked a lot in Hemlock Grove, particularly the first season.
- Star-Making Role: Pennywise is the role that fully put him on the same level of fame as his father and siblings.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Stands at an impressive 6'4" and is quite easy on the eyes.
- What Could Have Been: He was initially cast as Thorir in The Northman alongside his brother Alexander, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Gustav Lindh.
