Bill Skarsgård has revealed that a drifting red balloon felt like a supernatural sign before he landed Pennywise in It. The role now sits at the center of his career, and a full decade has passed since the casting call that changed everything. Back then, a long road of auditions stretched ahead of him, with no guarantees. One strange omen, it turns out, arrived in the middle of that stretch.

While most actors wait for a phone call, Skarsgård was waiting on the sky, and a lone balloon floated into view at exactly the right moment.

Bill Skarsgård read a passing red balloon as a sign that Pennywise in It would be his. The moment came during Los Angeles auditions, when he was an unknown. Director Andy Muschietti wanted him early, but the studio still needed convincing.

“There's this like one red balloon just crosses the sky,” Skarsgård told Josh Horowitz, recalling an afternoon lying in a garden with a friend.

He then added, “we’re like it’s a sign.”

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by Horowitz, Skarsgård explained that the process dragged on through eight auditions. Andy Muschietti had directed only Mama by then, so his pull with executives was limited. Skarsgård even traveled to Toronto for a camera test in a cheap clown face and met the costume designers before the job was official. When the news arrived, the feeling was mostly relief rather than disbelief.

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While a red balloon helped Skarsgård land Pennywise, the clown has since picked up a second career in household discipline.

Bill Skarsgård keeps the Pennywise voice in reserve at home, strictly for moments when his children misbehave. During the same Happy Sad Confused podcast, Josh Horowitz brought up the topic in a conversation recorded the day before Halloween, asking whether the kids had ever heard about it. Skarsgård confirmed that Pennywise can come and go as needed, with Nosferatu potentially making an appearance too. He jokingly described the arrangement as a colorful rotating cast sharing one dad.

Halloween offers more evidence, since his oldest daughter is going as a vampire with four outfits planned. She suggested Nosferatu for him, but Skarsgård noted that the makeup takes eight hours. Horowitz also showed a photo of his dog dressed as Pennywise, which Skarsgård called lazy without face paint. The dog may have skipped the makeup chair, but the balloon that started it all still gets the final word as the original sign.

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What are your thoughts on Bill Skarsgård’s balloon sign before Pennywise in It? Let us know in the comments.