Bill Skarsgård’s Unsettling Pennywise Talent Wasn’t CGI — It Was Real

During the 2018 filming of It: Chapter Two, cast member Bill Hader learned a surprising—and deeply unnerving—truth about one of Pennywise’s most iconic traits. While on set, Hader casually asked Bill Skarsgård what kind of visual effects the team used to make Pennywise’s eyes point in two different directions. It was a fair assumption; after all, the effect had become one of the character’s signature, nightmare-inducing features.

Skarsgård didn’t explain.
He demonstrated.

“Is this what you mean?” he reportedly asked, before effortlessly shifting his eyes in opposite directions—live, in front of Hader—while flashing Pennywise’s unmistakable grin.

The moment left Hader stunned. The now-famous reaction clip, where he visibly recoils in disbelief, has since become one of the most circulated behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the It franchise.

What many viewers assumed was digital manipulation turned out to be pure physiology. Skarsgård can independently move his eyes at will, a rare neuromuscular ability that requires no visual-effects assistance. For the filmmakers, it was an unexpected gift. For the audience, it was the perfect eerie detail that cemented Pennywise as one of modern horror’s most disturbing villains.

Director Andy Muschietti has described the discovery as a turning point in defining the character’s visual identity. Instead of relying on CGI for Pennywise’s drifting gaze, the production simply let Skarsgård perform it naturally—resulting in a more organic, unsettling effect that even advanced digital tools struggle to replicate.

In a film built on psychological tension and childhood terror, the fact that one of its most haunting features wasn’t visual trickery at all—but a real, controllable physical trait—only deepens the legend of Pennywise.