There is no denying that Pennywise has been one of the most iconic figures in horror cinema since Tim Curry played him in the 1990 miniseries IT. Over twenty-five years later, Warner Bros. Pictures successfully rebooted the title and introduced a new generation to the Stephen King classic. With this came a whole new appreciation for the original and the people involved, hence where the Cinedigm documentary, Pennywise: The Story of IT was born. Co-directed by long-time horror fans and documentarians, John Campopiano (Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary) and Christopher Griffiths (Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II), the film provides an in-depth look at the process it took to bring King’s story to television and all the challenges involved. There are new interviews with many of the original actors, including Curry and some of The Losers Club. In the below exclusive interview, Adam Faraizl, who played Eddie Kaspbrak, spoke to us about his time on the IT set and his involvement in the documentary.
You can watch Pennywise: The Story of IT here
-Can you tell us about how you got the role of Eddie Kaspbrak in IT?
I believe at the time I was in actual Hollywood, living in West Hollywood for a little under a year and trying to seriously pursue acting at the time. I was originally born and raised in Dallas, so we basically took most of the summer off and part of the school year. My mother and I went out there and did auditions. At that time, I got called in to audition and got the part. Like pretty much every other audition I went on, and got the part that way.
-There were a lot of kids in IT. Were you always reading for the part of Eddie or did you originally go in for another character?
I’m pretty sure I was always applying for the part of Eddie.
-Do you have a favorite memory from the IT set?
I have quite a few. The shower scene was obviously really cool. That was one of my bigger parts. But actually, being there and seeing how everything was set up on the sound stage, because it was built on a massive sound stage at Lionsgate Studios. Being able to see what was going on behind the scenes of the actual bathroom setup, like the way it was constructed, all the grips pushing all the pipes through the walls and the cutaway corners and how the movie magic was basically done, was really interested.
Being in the Centrum, when we were filming that part, was one of the only times we were all together with Tim Curry. They were using dry ice piping and smoke, so it was coming up and lifting around our heads. That was a really cool experience filming that. There were a lot of other great ones on that set, but those are two that stand out in my mind.
-What did you initially think when the filmmakers contacted you about being part of the Pennywise: The Story of IT documentary?
It was a bit of a surprise. It’s been so long since the original movie was released. I quit acting a long time ago, I was only an actor from about 7-14 and decided to pursue school and other things instead. So I haven’t actually been acting for a number of decades. To get that call, that people were doing a documentary about the original, it was kind of interesting. To be part of something that large, enough to have a documentary on it, is cool.
-What was the hardest scene for you to shoot?
In some ways, the shower scene was the most difficult. Again, because there was no assemble cast, it was just me having to react to direction that was being broadcast through loud speakers. Tim was also reading into a microphone and it was being broadcast. Everything had to be broadcast through loud speakers because of the way the special effects for the shower heads were used. They were using compressed air to make it look like steam, so they didn’t have to have real scalding water. Lot of noise and sound and having to concentrate on a lot of things like directions and lines, while not slipping because it was actual real bathroom tile. I wouldn’t say it was the most difficult, but it definitely got my blood pressure going as 12-year-old child trying to do his first big scene.
Other than that, the part in the Centrum was again not difficult, but was a big climactic scene and a lot of stuff was going on, not as overly aggressively as the shower scene, but because Tim Curry was there everyone had to be on point. The piping in of dry ice was a lot of fun, but because we were all being bathed in it, they also had to have oxygen tanks in there. We would take breaks, as they wouldn’t want us to breathe in the special effects too deeply.
-What do you think about the IT reboot?
I liked it. It’s completely different interpretation from the source material. Which is fair because it’s a completely different format, it was done for theaters as opposed to a made for tv movie. Based on what was allowable for tv at the time and what’s allowed for theaters today are two completely different things. They were able pursue different avenues to make scarier in some ways and more quickly paced. I think it is a great reinterpretation of it. I think it’s more of an addition to the story and the legacy of that story. I think it’s nice it takes a slightly different spin on it in a slightly different way. There is a lot of great acting in it and the cinematography was great. It was very well done.
-Do you keep in touch with any of the other members of The Losers Club?
Oddly enough I do now, but that is because as the new movies were being produced, conventions started contacting us. Which I had never done before. I think Marlon and Brandon had previously done one and we were both together at one in Atlanta. I am not really a horror buff, so I never really paid attention to this sort of thing. Around that time, we all got booked for a convention in Birmingham in the UK, the logistics for that put us all back in touch with each other. Oddly enough, I just moved to Seattle before all this started happening, and I realized Ben lives in Portland, so he is a quick car ride away. Marlon at the time I discovered, actually lived in Seattle and I eventually moved not far from him at some point. Emily still lives in Vancouver, so not far from her either. Until this whole revival thing started happening, I hadn’t spoken to any of them in years, I think Brandon was a Facebook friend of mine and that was it. Now pretty much, we contact at any time.
-You are a DJ now, how did you get into that? Where can people hear your music?
This requires some backstory, having everything filmed in Vancouver, it made me fall in love with the area. At any given time during high school, I was trying to find ways to get back to Canada. I then applied to go to University of Victoria on Vancouver Island, I got accepted and that’s where I went to University. I was aware of electronic music before then, but it was really in college where I got into it more. The scene in Victoria was amazing, big djs would agree to do little island shows. They would agree to do them because one of the club owners had access to Whistler, so he gave them free ski passes all the time. So these djs from Europe would come to Vancouver because they could ski for free too. It created a good scene in a small college town. It was an interesting scene to come up in. I met other people who spun the same style of music as I did there, UK garage at the time. For being a small and noncompetitive environment, you had to prove you knew what you were doing with turn tables ect, or you wouldn’t get booked anywhere. That’s where I got my start, actually performing in front of people and doing outdoor raves.
You can find my mixes at www.hearthis.at/deeppxnw
-Are you personally a fan of horror films? If so, do you have a favorite?
I’m not really a horror buff. Much to the dismay of many people at the conventions I have gone to. One of the most memorable experiences for me, a long time ago I saw The Ring with my girlfriend at the time. If I am going to see horror, I prefer it to be psychological horror. The slow burning terror. So I loved everything about The Ring, the effects, it terrified me. The day after watching, my left arm hurt. Basically, my elbow to my shoulder was on fire. I realized what happened, I was so terrified and tense, I had that arm linked with my girlfriend during the movie. I had flexed that bicep muscle for an hour or hour and a half because I was so scared. That’s why my arm hurt the next day.
