IT: Welcome to Derry finally unveiled more about the original Pennywise with Bob Gray, and Bill Skarsgård is sharing some insight into the more tragic nature of this reveal. Having originally debuted on screen with IT: Chapter Two as a form of the eponymous monster clown who haunts Jessica Chastain’s Beverly when she goes to visit her childhood apartment, Bob is said to have been the father of the ominous Mrs. Kersh, who herself transformed into one of IT’s monstrous forms.

Come IT: Welcome to Derry, however, the HBO prequel series confirmed Bob Gray to not only have been a real person, but the original Pennywise the Clown in 1908, who the titular creature disguises himself as after taking him into the woods for an unseen fate. It’s also revealed that Madeleine Stowe’s Ingrid is that of Ingrid Kersh, the younger version of Mrs. Kersh from Chapter Two who has embraced IT as having taken over her father’s identity and offered them some victims during her time as a nurse at Juniper Hill.

Now, in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns for his critically acclaimed biographical thriller Dead Man’s Wire, Bill Skarsgård opened up about his return in IT: Welcome to Derry season 1. When asked about getting to explore a new side of the character with Bob Gray’s origin story, the star/executive producer recalled his excitement at getting to tap into “a thing that we hadn’t explored before” with the new lore regarding the Stephen King character.

Skarsgård also revealed that, in having briefly played Bob in IT: Chapter Two, he had “already thought about versions of him” in the past and what the character’s backstory would be, which was ultimately “quite different than what they had written in the scripts.” From there, the star found himself looking to avoid “reducing him to flashback scenes where he’s [only] a loving father,” and instead sought to translate the feeling that “this guy has lived an entire life,” in which “some it’s been good” and “some of it has not been good at all“:

Bill Skarsgård: I also thought that there was something very tragic about the guy. Yes, he loves his daughter. I think that that’s true, but I’m not so sure he’s happy in life in general. So, there was something about this kind of drunk, has-been clown that has this pipe dream of coming back to previous success that was quite amusing to me.

One scene, in particular, that Skarsgård found himself drawn to when playing Bob Gray’s flashback scenes in IT: Welcome to Derry was the one in which the titular entity approaches him in the form of a child and indicates his mother is hurt in the woods. Though initially suspicious and also in the midst of a drunken aside bemoaning his problems, Bob ultimately goes with the child, leaving only a bloody handkerchief behind and eventually reemerging with IT having taken over his identity.

Reflecting on filming said sequence, Skarsgård found it to be the one “we had some of the most fun with” during the production process, particularly as he and director/co-creator Andy Muschietti “improvised” different takes on the scene. Recalling having “laughed at a lot of things that came out” in Bob’s more inebriated state, he also found it to offer a completely different approach from the more over-the-top persona the character puts on when interacting with his daughter.

IT: Welcome to Derry‘s confirmation that Bob Gray was a real figure prior to his Chapter Two appearance certainly proved to be one of the show’s bigger twists when it came to expanding King’s source material. As co-creator/co-showrunner Jason Fuchs previously shared with ScreenRant, the goal of this reveal was to explain “why IT chose the form of Pennywise” to draw in children, which was appropriately showcased in episode 7 as he proved to be a very popular performer for younger viewers.

Even more intriguing, however, is that it creates the mystery as to what happened to the original Bob Gray. Considering how insatiable Pennywise’s appetite is, the more likely scenario is that Bob was devoured by IT after going into the woods in Welcome to Derry episode 7. However, considering IT has also taken on the form of people it hasn’t consumed, particularly multiple members of the Losers’ Club to torment each other, there’s also a possibility for a future season of the show to reveal a very different fate for the character.

This could also pave the way for IT: Welcome to Derry season 2 or beyond to bring back multiple characters from its first season to discover this. Whether it be the new group of young characters further investigating Pennywise’s history in the town, or the younger version of Ingrid trying to find out herself in flashbacks or the 1908-set season 3, there is still plenty of material to explore with Skarsgård in this form.