Bill Skarsgard has turned one of horror’s most recognizable voices into a household disciplinary tool. During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor told host Josh Horowitz that his children do hear his Bill Skarsgard Pennywise voice — mainly when they act up.
“Yeah, if they misbehave,” Skarsgard said with a laugh, according to the interview. He shares two children with his longtime partner, Swedish actress Alida Morberg.
The comment came as Horowitz asked whether Skarsgard’s kids had been exposed to the voice he uses for Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the child-fearing antagonist of Stephen King’s It. Skarsgard first played the role in 2017’s It and returned for 2019’s It: Chapter Two. He more recently voiced the character in HBO Max’s series It: Welcome to Derry, which has been renewed for a second season.
A rotating cast of horror dads
Skarsgard suggested the Pennywise voice is not the only one that can surface at home. He described a rotating set of characters that can come and go, mentioning that Nosferatu can also “pop in.” He summed up the mix with a colorful phrase about a “schizophrenic daddy.”
The Nosferatu reference points to Skarsgard’s role as Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ 2024 film Nosferatu, which also starred Lily-Rose Depp. The movie centers on a terrifying vampire’s dark obsession with a haunted young woman and the deadly plague he brings to her German town.
With Pennywise and Count Orlok both on his resume, Horowitz asked whether Skarsgard has become more selective about taking villain roles. Skarsgard, who also appears in The Mosquito Bowl, said any future villain part would need to feel original to him — something he had not done before. He added that he feels “spent” with those kinds of roles, though he allowed that certain villains could still be fun in different ways if the right kind came along.
What the interview covered
- Skarsgard confirmed his children have heard his Pennywise voice, which he deploys when they misbehave.
- He joked that other characters, including Nosferatu, can also emerge at home.
- He said he is open to villain roles only if they feel original and unlike what he has already done.
- The interview also touched on his recent work in It: Welcome to Derry and Nosferatu.
The exchange stayed light, but it underlined how closely Skarsgard’s family life and his gallery of horror characters have become linked in public conversation. For now, the Pennywise voice appears to serve a practical purpose at home — at least when his children misbehave.
