Adderley School Actor is Newest ‘It’ Boy

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter 

This month’s recently released adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same title,“It,” has already received rave reviews from critics, fans and, surprisingly, even the author himself.

The story opens in the northeastern town of Derry—a fictional village set in King’s commonly used home state of Maine—where children, one by one, have been mysteriously disappearing from their quiet and usually idyllic neighborhood.

As we soon come to learn, an evil force—one wielding the power to shape-shift into the most fearsome entities—has reemerged after 27 years of dormancy and has taken up quarters masquerading as a wicked, sewer-dwelling clown named Pennywise.

And because this supernatural story is set in the 1980s, such psychologically horrific events can only be thwarted by a group of heroic children, armed with bicycles and baseball bats.

With its sizable cast of young talent, the film features seven adolescent actors, including Adderley School for the Performing Arts alumnus Jack Dylan Grazer in his most notable role yet.

Playing the part of the lovable hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak, 14-year-old Grazer transmogrifies into the wary boy whose panic-driven and naturally apprehensive personality is overcome by an innate bravery within.

Directed by Andrés Muschietti, the film is the latest adaptation to be pulled from King’s expansive bibliography and marks the second “It” film, following the 1990s two-part adaptation starring Tim Curry.

Although this year’s remake has been met with some concern by fans of the original, moviegoers need not worry: “It” received King’s personal stamp of approval—a rare occurrence from the author who has been historically critical of his books turned movies, from Stanley Kubrick’s critically loved adaptation of “The Shining” to the 1990s B-film “Graveyard Shift,” which the author simply described as “yuck.”

After two weeks of box office success, “It” is now playing in theaters everywhere.