Stephen King's Most Terrifying Characters Have Been Played By Two Brothers

Horror author Stephen King is pretty prolific, with numerous film and television adaptations of his work that range from the great to the truly terrible. Drawing from his novels, novellas, and short stories, Stephen King movies and TV shows frequently feature at least one terrifying character, and some are scarier than others. Two of the most terrifying are Randall Flagg from "The Stand" and Pennywise from "It," as the former is a sort of dimension-hopping antichrist and the latter is a giant space spider who feeds on fear when not disguised as a clown. What's interesting is that Flagg and Pennywise have both been played by Skarsgård brothers. 

In 2020, Alexander Skarsgård starred as Flagg in the Paramount+ miniseries adaptation of "The Stand," while his younger brother Bill Skarsgård played Pennywise in director Andy Muschietti's "It" and "It: Chapter Two" films. Both Skarsgård's are charming, handsome actors, so it's a lot of fun seeing them get weird and creepy in King adaptations. Their characters and the stories they're in are wildly different, but it's still neat that Skarsgårds both play King's scariest villains. (Bill Skarsgård also appeared on the Stephen King-inspired TV series "Castle Rock.")

One of the best things about the Skarsgård brothers playing these characters is just how different they are. As Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård had to wear pretty intensive makeup and a bizarre frilled costume, though he was able to show off his physical acting prowess, even terrifying co-star Bill Hader because he can move his pupils independently. He also does a bizarre dance that's hard to forget, with a big and bombastic performance. 

Alexander Skarsgård as Randall Flagg is much more subdued than Pennywise, though no less frightening. He's a sinister figure with a lot of charisma who is able to sway people to do his bidding, and given the elder Skarsgård's natural charm, it's a match made in heaven hell. Now if we can just get their dad (Stellan Skarsgård) to play the Steven King ultra-villain the Crimson King, we'll really be in business.