The moment Nicholas met Pennywise

It's been one of the most anticipated horror releases of the year and now Nicholas Hamilton, who stars in the reboot of Stephen King's IT has shared the terrifying moment the cast were introduced to Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

Hailing from Lismore on the New South Wales North Coast, the 17-year-old chatted to Be ahead of movie's release, saying director Andy Muschietti kept Bill Skarsgård, who plays the shape shifting creature, away from the young cast during filming.

"Bill didn't come on to shoot his scenes until the second half of the movie and filming, so the kids had that time to bond and become a group before finally seeing this terrifying masterpiece," Nicholas told Be.

"The first time the kids and me all saw Pennywise in his full get up was when the full picture was released to the public so it's quite amazing that it was the first time that we saw him when we were the ones meant to be filming with him.

"I think that was a really fantastic idea by Andy because the first time they did see him was two minutes before they filmed a scene with him and I think that brings a whole new layer to the kids friendships and their rivalry with Pennywise."

Nicholas also opened up about his own troubled character in the movie, Henry Bowers, and admitted becoming familiar with the original book so quickly meant he was able to have a fresh take on the local Derry bully.

"I had seen bits and pieces of the mini-series but I had never read the book before I started filming... I had to get familiar with the source material pretty quickly which I think allowed me to have a fresh take on the character too. Henry is such a layered character, he is so unique for a bully character to have so many levels and to be so unique and different, which was amazing and to play around with," he said.

"To have all these different scenes that a normal bully in a normal movie would never get to tackle and to be able to play around with Henry as a character and the people around him it was amazing and something I had never done before and something I don't think I'll opportunity to do again which is awesome."

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With Henry terrorising the kids from the Loser's Club just as much as Pennywise, Nicholas added that while the scenes were "full on", there was also a state of vulnerability to his character.

"I had never had the opportunity to play such a character with such intense full on scenes, I had to tackle something really inside me to bring that out and enforce that on the character I was terrorising. It's not only the meanness or the constant aggravated nature of Henry, but there are also the layers you get in the scene when IT takes over, the vulnerability shines through and I love that about his character."

With Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff and Chosen Jacobs starring in the flick as the founding members of The Loser's Club, Nicholas added that casting couldn't have been more perfect.

"They are little geniuses those kids, they're amazing. It's amazing how suited they are to the roles that they play, it's as if you ripped the characters out from the book and put it on a human being, it's them, it's crazy. But I think as well as being similar to the characters, they are also very likeable, nice kids that you want to be friends with and kids you want to feel sorry for if they got hurt.

"Filming wise, even though my scenes playing with the Losers were incredibly intense, especially with Jeremy Ray Taylor and Chosen Jacobs, they are the type of kids that you get through a scene like that where another child actor might be traumatised for life after but the director would yell cut and they would be back to normal life and joking around with you and you almost forget you have been holding them in a headlock for an hour. It's quite amazing how talented they really are and I can't wait for people to see that talent on the screen."

IT is in cinemas from September 7.

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