Bill Skarsgård

Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (Swedish pronunciation:  (listen); born 9 August 1990) is a Swedish actor. He is most known for playing Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.

Skarsgård has also appeared in the comedy Simple Simon (2010), the dystopian thriller The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), the espionage thriller Atomic Blonde (2017), the comedy-horror Villains (2019), and the drama Nine Days (2020). He starred in the supernatural horror series Hemlock Grove (2013–2015) and the anthology horror series Castle Rock (2018–2019).

Early life

Skarsgård was born in Vällingby, Sweden, the son of actor Stellan Skarsgård and doctor My Skarsgård. He has seven siblings: Alexander, Gustaf, Valter (all actors), as well as Sam, Eija, Ossian, and Kolbjörn. Ossian and Kolbjörn are half-brothers from the later marriage between Stellan Skarsgård and Megan Everett.

Career

In 2011, Skarsgård was nominated for a Guldbagge Award for his leading role as Simon in Simple Simon. At the age of 21, he won the European Film Academy’s Shooting Stars Award in 2012. Beginning in 2013, Skarsgård played the role of Roman Godfrey in the Netflix original Hemlock Grove.

In April 2014, Skarsgård featured on the cover of Hero – a bi-annual men’s fashion and culture magazine, shot by Hedi Slimane. In the issue, he is interviewed by his father.

Skarsgård played Matthew in the science fiction thriller The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), his first major American film. He played horror villain Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the 2017 film It, and reprised the role in the 2019 sequel. His role was met with praise from fans and critics alike.

Skarsgård was a series regular on 2018’s Castle Rock, as a young man with an unusual legal problem. That same year, he portrayed Zeitgeist in Deadpool 2. In 2020, he played Mateo in episode 4 of AMC’s anthology series Soulmates.

Personal life

Skarsgård is in a relationship with Swedish actress Alida Morberg. In October 2018, the couple became parents to a baby girl.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	White Water Fury	Klasse
2007	Spending the Night	Victor	Short film
2008	Pigan brinner!	Tonårs-Nosferatu	Short film
2008	Arn – The Kingdom at Road’s End	Erik
2009	Kenny Begins	Pontus
2010	Simple Simon	Simon
2010	Behind Blue Skies	Martin
2011	The Crown Jewels	Richard Persson
2011	Simon & the Oaks	Simon
2012	Anna Karenina	Captain Machouten
2013	Victoria	Otto
2016	The Divergent Series: Allegiant	Matthew
2016	A Stone Appears	Man
2017	Atomic Blonde	Merkel
2017	Alteration	Alejandro	Short film
2017	It	It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown / Bob Gray
2017	Battlecreek	Henry
2017	Moomins and the Winter Wonderland	Moomintroll (voice)
2018	Assassination Nation	Mark
2018	Deadpool 2	Axel Cluney / Zeitgeist
2019	Villains	Mickey
2019	It Chapter Two	It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown / Bob Gray
2020	Nine Days	Kane
2020	The Devil All the Time	Willard Russell
2021	Naked Singularity	Dane
TBA	The Things They Carried	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Laura Trenter – Dad, the Policeman	Tony	2 episodes
2009	Livet i Fagervik	Mårten	1 episode
2013–2015	Hemlock Grove	Roman Godfrey
2018–2019	Castle Rock	Henry Deaver / The Kid (season 1) The Angel (season 2)
2020	Soulmates	Mateo	Episode: “Layover”
TBA	Clark	Clark Olofsson	Post-production

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Association	Category	Result	Ref.
2011	Simple Simon	Guldbagge Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Leading Young Actor	Nominated
2012	Himself	Berlin International Film Festival	Shooting Stars Award	Won
2017	It	Fright Meter Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Seattle Film Critics Awards	Best Villain	Nominated
2018	It	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Villain	Nominated
		Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Villain	Nominated