IT: Welcome to Derry Cast Reveals The Shining Connection & Stephen King Easter Eggs

A Prequel, Moving Backwards

The idea for It: Welcome to Derry began in 2018, while the Muschettis (a brother/sister filmmaking team) were filming the second It movie. Stephen King's original novel contains supplemental material that gives us some history and context for the novel's events.

The idea was to turn this supplemental material into a TV series. The first season would take place in 1962, 27 years before the events from the first film. The second season would take place in 1935, 27 years prior to that. And then the third season would take place in 1908, 27 years prior to that. This coincides with the "every 27 years" cycle that drives the Pennywise lore.

"We asked Stephen [King] what he thought about it, and he gave us his support and blessing," said Barbara Muschetti. "He loved the idea. So in 2020, we went to Warner Bros. to pitch it. And Peter Roth, who was the big boss at Warner, bought it in the room. He was in love with the idea. From that moment on, we never stopped."

HBO has not yet announced a second season for It: Welcome to Derry. But since the premiere was the third largest in HBO Max's history, it's safe to hope for the best.

Stephen King's Blessing

Stephen King is wary of movie adaptations, dating back to his experience with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining in 1980. But this series and the movies have his endorsement, even if he's not intimately involved in its production.

"Stephen King has blessed everything that we've always done, in terms of script, scenes, and page," said Andy Muschetti. "We sent him everything before we even started production."

"He is supervising creatively from a position where he's not trying to dictate what should be, but more from the position of someone who loves his original work," Muschetti continued. "He loved the film adaptations and he wants to be surprised [with the show]. And he knew this particular project was going to take a bigger swing at creating a story that isn't in the book, but is inspired by the book."

King has occasionally offered input, but it's been minimal.

"His interventions were very sparse and very respectful," Muschetti added. "He is open to us playing with his toys."

An Iconic Character From Stephen King's The Shining

One of the most fascinating characters in It: Welcome to Derry is Dick Hallorann, the telepathic soldier who's been forced by the U.S. military to investigate Derry. This is not the kindly old man from the 1980 The Shining film, played by Scatman Crothers. This is a younger man who's learning about his power, whether altruistically or maliciously.

"I think the best part about Dick in our TV show is that he is restless," said Chris Chalk, who plays Dick. "He's a mess. He's a bit of a shit show. The future version [of Dick] is calmer. He's more at ease, like a kind gentleman. I think this version of Dick is on the way there, but nowhere close. We tried to decide, 'How much can we put this character against the wall?'—put pressure on him—so that he's not a great guy and he has a lot to work through."

"Dick, at this point in his life, is protective," Chalk continued. "He's choosing to be alone. I'm not sure [his fellow soldiers] are his allies as much as they are loud and are boisterous and can distract. He likes them and he likes hanging out with them, but they serve a purpose of keeping him entertained and keeping him distracted from his power. Because the more Dick opens that door, the more he starts to fall apart."

Minority Vs. Minority

At one crucial point in the series, the Dick character breaks into the mind of an indigenous boy in order to acquire information. It's a traumatic experience for both of them, and it creates an interesting racial dynamic, because Dick is doing this at the behest of a U.S. General (played by James Remar). But Dick places self-preservation over the sociological implications of his actions.

"We talked about how this black dude is fucking [over] this indigenous dude in order to make a white dude happy," said Chalk. "But the other option is isolation in a dark room underneath the military prison, stuck with only his thoughts."

"There are things that are scarier than the general," continued Chalk. "I think the one thing he's trying to avoid is being alone with his thoughts. The only time you're gonna find him choosing to be alone is when [the alternative] is worse than being alone, which—heavens forbid—what could that possibly be?"

Living Up To Expectations

When creating his version of Dick Hallorann, Chalk made sure to watch other actors' portrayals, but he didn't feel the need or pressure to imitate them. Instead, he went back to the source material.

"I think the performances that other people have done are helpful," said Chalk. "I think that text is helpful, but ultimately, going back to [Stephen King's] book and going to our scripts is the best, because that's what we're actually doing. So I can't really pull from The Shining (1980). I definitely looked at [those performances], gave it 45 minutes, and went, 'Okay, now I got to do my own thing.' I want to see it, but out of respect, I don't want to see it for too long and steal something."

Character Development

To develop these characters, many of the actors drew upon their personal experiences. Many of the younger actors related to their characters, and thus, they brought a bit of themselves into their portrayals.

"One of the things that really drew me to Marge was her discomfort in herself and her insecurities," said Matilda Lawler who plays Marge Truman. "As a teen girl, but really as just a human being in general, it's a very relatable experience to be uncomfortable in your skin and to feel like an outsider. You're desperately in search of a group of people that you belong with and a place you identify with. It was very easy to pull on my own personal feelings and things I was going through developmentally while we were filming."

"I think Lily has a lot of different layers to her," said Clara Stack who plays Lily Bainbridge. "She kind of starts off the series kind of more shy and quiet and fearful. But I think as the series goes on, she learns to be brave and face her fears. I see those different layers and depths within myself at times. I also think one of the main focuses for Lily throughout the series is helping her friends and caring for her friends and making sure that she's doing the right thing, which is something I try to really gravitate towards and focus on in my own life."

"I feel like Rich is me," said Arian S. Cartaya who plays Rich Santos, "So all that you see on camera is mostly me. But all of the showrunners definitely gave me that confidence boost to do those scenes."

Real Life Inspirations

Most of the adult actors took inspiration from individuals in their lives, especially the people who raised them.

"I come from a family of all women, with my grandmother, my mother and my sister," said Stephen Rider, who plays Hank Grogan. "And I always tell people—and I mean this respectfully—that my mom is a very good person, and my grandma was a great person. She was great, because she was pregnant at 14 and had her first child at 15, so by time we came along, she had already raised three generations of children. She was forced to grow up at a very young age. I looked at the type of person she helped me become, and also who she helped the people around me become. I wanted to make sure in playing Hank that I also paid homage to her."

Taylour Paige, who plays Charlotte Hanlon, was also inspired by her grandmother.

"My grandmother was also a southern woman who was born in the late 30s," said Paige. "My grandmother had so many gifts: her witness and keen observation; her humor. While she was alive, I poked and prodded whenever I could just to get a sense of her world— what she saw and what she thought."

Jovan Adepo, who plays Leroy Hanlon, had a father who was in the Air Force, just like his character.

"My dad wasn't aggressive, but he was very strict," said Adepo. "And to get to talk to him about what it was like to be an air forceman with a child and a wife, and what it felt like to be an air forceman trying to build a family structure? That was fun."

"Sometimes with military people, people will look at them and be like, 'Oh, they're super aggressive, or hard just for the sake of being hard,'" continued Adepo. "I thought he was strict for no reason, but after I played this part, I learned that he was strict because he just wanted to make sure that he had a familial foundation. He thought whatever he was doing was the right thing for him and his family."

Freedom To Explore

All of the actors we spoke to complimented Andy Muschetti's approach to directing, allowing them to make the characters their own.

"I want to see what [the actors] bring. I give them freedom, and I love to give them freedom," Muschetti. "And when there's something that departs from my vision, I will tell them. I suggest little things about behavior here and there, just tiny redirections in one particular direction or another."

When asked to give an example of an actor who made the character their own, apart from what was written on the page, Muschetti cited Taylour Paige, who plays Charlotte Hanlon.

"Taylor is monumentally talented, and most of what you see there is her," said Muschetti. "I saw her act in real life, and I noticed someone that was impulsive and spontaneous, and somehow chaotic. She's a dancer too, so she has a lot of great swag.. And I said at one point we were already shooting, I said, That's what Charlotte is. Charlotte is a woman that is impulsive. She likes to improvise. Taylour will do a lot of things that are in the script in a different way."

For her part, Paige did a lot of research and put a lot of effort into her character's authenticity. The final product was an amalgamation of numerous real women, including Supremes legend Diana Ross.

"I worked with my brilliant dialect coach Jane Fujita to really get specific with not only dialect, but careful pronunciation in those spaces," said Paige. "Like how one speaks when ordering a roast for their family in a white establishment. The careful nature of a woman in 1962. The code switching when uncomfortable. The starched clothing. The Ironing. The posture. The steps one takes to be ladylike. What a house smelled like. What the bed felt like. What would I be reminding my children? What dreams might a wife have that she wouldn’t dare utter out loud?"

Not Everyone's An Activist

Despite the intrigue of the town and the loaded racial dynamics of 1962, not everyone in the town of Derry has an ulterior motive or agenda. There's lots of people who are just trying to get by, not make waves, and lead a quiet life, rather than picking up a sign and marching.

"It's easy to be nostalgic and think that every single black person was a part of [the Civil Rights Movement], but there were a lot of people that didn't necessarily know what they believed," said Rider. "Or they believed in it, but from a distance, you know? Like, I still gotta feed my family. I think that's what I love about Hank. He's an every man. Everybody wants to be a hero, but in reality, most people are just trying to survive on a daily basis. And I think it's important to represent that person."

Being "Exceptional"

On the other hand there's a character like Leroy Hanlon, who's made it his entire career to stand out and be noticed. Early in the show, Leroy is blatantly disrespected by a white soldier with a lower rank. And to play Leroy, Adepo had to get in the right headspace. How would Leroy react to such a slight?

"You have to assume that Leroy has been facing this for years; being a major means that this has happened many, many times," said Adepo. "He had to have ignored some of it. Because if he always addressed it, and he was always like, 'Oh my God, why didn't this person salute me?.' he would never advance the way he did."

"We had a military advisor, Dale Dye, who said that in the 1960s if you were a black man and you were a major, you had to be an exceptional soldier," continued Adepo. "You had to be better than every white man on the planet. I had to play an 'exceptional' black man [for 1962]. And "exceptional" means you're not trying to pick fights all the time."

Bonding On and Off Set

When Rob Reiner directed Stand By Me (1986), another great Stephen King adaptation, he brought the child actors together before filming started, just so that they could start building chemistry. And the showrunners for It: Welcome to Derry did something very similar for the principal actors. They organized a bowling party, where a lot of the adults met their on-screen children for the first time.

The child actors also did activities together outside the context of filming.

One of the first things we did to kind of build our friendship and bond was we did a screening of the first It movie, and we all watched it together," recalled Stack. "We were filming in Toronto, Canada, so we spent our days off set exploring the city, trying new foods, and going to new places. And a lot of times, we would go out to dinner and just hang out and have sleepovers. So I think that translated on set."

"One of the main themes in this show is friendship, and the kids all face their fears together as a group and as friends," continued Stack. "We filmed something that was so intense and so horrific at times. Because we all did it together and we all went through it together, it created a really special bond."

On-Set Coaching

The older actors mentored the younger actors. And Blake Cameron James, who plays Will Hanlon, was especially grateful to Taylour Paige, who plays his mother, and Jovan Adepo, who plays his father. Adepo not only dispensed life advice (keep your head on straight) for the young actor; he also supported him on set.

"A lot of times with scenes, you genuinely start getting emotional," said James. "Mid-scene, [Mr. Jovan] was behind the camera, and he was coaching me and guiding me to stay calm because he could see I could lose it at any point in time. I'll appreciate that forever. That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever done for me in this industry, and his support and his help and his love mean so much."

Lifelong Friendships

For some of the actors, the show has created bonds that will last a lifetime. Amanda Christine, who plays Ronnie Grogan, bonded heavily with Stephen Rider, who plays her father

"It was such an amazing experience working with Stephen and having him as my father," said Christine. "He still takes on that role; he still continues to contact me and make sure that I'm doing well in school. My mom is a single mom, but it's also good to have that male figure in my life. It's really nice of him, especially because he's someone who gets the acting world, and understands me in that type of way. Working with him on set was such a joy. He was so funny and had such a loud personality. And I love that about him."

Rider shared the same sentiment.

"Amanda is like me in a lot of ways, where she doesn't necessarily trust you off the bat," said Rider. "You have to earn her trust. I love Amanda, and Amanda loves, loves me. I'll always be in her life for the rest of my life, 'til the wheels fall off."

Bromance

One of the funniest things I learned during these interviews was the antagonistic off-set relationship between Chalk and Adepo, who share a lot of scenes together.

"Jovan is resistant, because he's a proper introvert, and I'm an ambivert, so I'm in the middle, but I'm just extroverted enough to drive him absolutely crazy." laughed Chalk. "I would stalk his house. We lived on the same block in Toronto, and I'd go look in his window, and he'd be so furious, he started closing his windows."

"Oh, my God, he told you that?" exclaimed Adepo. "This is super embarrassing!"

"Chris is big," continued Adepo. "When I'm filming and I'm in my scene, I don't want to talk to everybody. But he wanted to be around me so much. He used to do all these things to just trigger me and he told me at one point, "I want to be your friend. So bad. I don't care. I'm going to do everything I need to do to be your friend."

Both actors, however, valued the antagonism for how it elevated their acting.

"You want that type of actor to push you," said Adepo. "[Chalk] would be like, 'Bro, I'm about to fucking stretch you out.' And I'm like, 'What do you mean?' And he's like, 'You'll see.' When you're dealing with another actor—not an entertainer, an actor—and they're like, 'Bro, I'm about to give you something,' I'm like, 'Yeah, okay. I'm excited to see it.' Chris always challenges me. It's like a game."

It: Welcome to Derry airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on HBO. Season 1 will air through December 14.