Dream Casting The Losers Club From 'It' As Adults For The Sequel
9. Ben Hanscom: Michael C. Hall
Jeremy Ray Taylor plays the overweight Ben Hanscom in Part I, a role that he fully inhabits as he makes us care for him deeply. The adult version of Ben Hanscom would need to make the audience similarly sympathetic to him – albeit in a completely different way.
By the time Part II comes around, Ben is a famous architect who is as handsome and rich as he is in shape. In fact, Ben goes through one of the most noticeable physical transformations of the Loser’s Club, and it will be important to find an actor who can embody that physical change and make us believe he really was the fat kid we saw in Part I. Michael C. Hall, with his chameleon-like ability to dive right into the heart of characters of all physicalities, would be perfect for the adult version of Ben.
The older Ben has a lot of gravitas and quiet moments. He’s a quiet leader in both Part I and Part II, but as an adult his past clearly haunts him, as does Pennywise. Michael C. Hall can play both fear and empathy, making us connect with him emotionally while getting us to realize that it’s not only what Ben is seeing that’s horrific, but it’s what he’s feeling as well. And that’s where It: Part II, like Part I, will thrive – on the emotional scares behind the physical ones.