Bill Skarsgård has continued to to impress audiences over the years and has helped maintain the glorious reputation of the Skarsgård family alongside his father Stellan Skarsgård and brother Alexander Skarsgård. Fans mostly know him for his role as Pennywise the Clown in the two It movies. He also played the main antagonist in 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4.
Skarsgård is gearing up for his leading role in the upcoming action film Boy Kills World. The film is co-produced by Sam Raimi and the makers of the film had a tough task while casting the main role of the Boy. It seems Skarsgård was not their original choice for the role, and Pete Davidson was considered initially, with the tone of the film also being completely different at the time.
Boy Kills World Initially Had Pete Davidson With a Rich Comedic Flair
Sam Raimi and first-time director Moritz Mohr are coming up with their new action thriller film Boy Kills World. Bill Skarsgård stars as the titular Boy who seeks revenge against Famke Janssen’s Hilda van der Koy after the latter murdered his family. The intense and gritty action thriller is a first for Skarsgård playing an action hero, however, he was not the first choice for the character.
In an interview with Movieweb, one of the co-producers of the film Alex Lebovici revealed that the makers considered casting Pete Davidson for the role, which would have made the film more comedic. However, all that changed when they saw Skarsgård’s dramatic and nuanced performance, which brought a lot of depth and grittiness to it far more than what was in the script. Lebovici said,
“One of the original ideas was Pete Davidson. That was an idea, and that’d be far more of a comedy. But when you see Bill, and you know how serious and dramatic he is, but also how expressive he is, it was just like, we had to get him. What’s actually interesting was that I think the performances, from Bill [Skarsgård] especially, were a lot more serious than in the way it was written. The script was written a little bit more like a comedy, and he brought so much depth to it and so much nuance to it”
Skarsgård has shown his range as an actor in his films and is particularly known for the intensity that he brings to his roles. It is no surprise that his performance changed the minds of the makers from making an action comedy with Davidson to an intense action thriller. His performance also seems to have elevated the script and made it even more dramatic and nuanced and it’s all thanks to his versatility.
Brandon Lee’s Soul Is Intact in the New Crow Film According to Director
Almost 30 years after the release of Brandon Lee’s iconic 1994 film The Crow, Bill Skarsgård is stepping into his shoes in the 2024 remake of the film with the same name. Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders is directing the film and he recently talked to Vanity Fair about tackling a revered property and introducing it to a new audience.
Sanders stated that his film is a different take on the original Crow and he kept Lee’s contribution and legacy in mind while making the film. He hopes that the film makes Lee and fans of the original film proud through Skarsgård’s iteration of the character. Sanders said,
“Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again. His soul is very much alive in this film. There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that”
The film also stars FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger. The trailer of the film that was released recently was not received well by audiences who deemed it inferior to the original. It remains to be seen whether the film itself changes the audience’s minds.
Skarsgård’s Boy Kills World and The Crow hits theatres on April 26, 2024, and August 23, 2024, respectively.
