Perry Mason, The Newsroom and Gotham actor Chris Chalk says he knows people are big fans of Stephen King's It novel if they know why his character appears in the TV prequel, Welcome to Derry.

ADVERTISEMENT
"When people ask that question, I go: 'You didn't read the book. You're not a big fan, are you?'" Chalk recently joked with the crowd at New York Comic Con.

Set in 1962 Maine and airing on HBO Sundays, the thriller casts Chalk as Dick Hallorann, the telepathic hero played by Scatman Crothers in 1980's The Shining and by Carl Lumbly in 2019's Doctor Sleep.

The TV series follows Hallorann as he uses his powers to help the U.S. military try to figure out why tragedy plagues Derry every 27 years.

Chalk said the character is a little rough around the edges compared to the older, kinder, more self-assured gentleman Crothers and Lumbly portrayed on the big screen.

"Dick is in Derry because Dick [expletive] up and that's the truth and you'll see the show and you'll get that," Chalk said.

"But Dick thinks all of these people are corny. He doesn't respect a single one of them and that's the journey of Dick," he added. "The Dick you know [from the films] is super-nice. Good luck with this Dick."

What Dick fears the most -- and what makes him vulnerable to the immortal killer clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) -- is himself.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
"You know the history of Dick Hallorann and you're going to meet him at a stage where he has a different relationship with his internal self, with his spiritual world, and his big fear is himself and losing control."

The actor said he knew he wanted to be a part of this project because sibling show-runners Andy and Barbara Muschietti seemed like warm people and instantly made him feel welcome.

"The first thing that I saw was Andy. That made me want to do it. It's It and it's Stephen King, but so what if the people suck to work with? But having Andy and Barbara at the top [set the tone]," Chalk recalled.

"I remember the audition and we were on Zoom, and I was like: 'Oh, my God, he seems so nice. He's so sweet.' And he gave me the nickname Chuckle. And I like a nickname, so I was like, 'Oh, if he's going to love me, then I'm going to love him back,'" he added.

"And I knew that we could create. Being able to create a family is most important to me and that's a good leader to create a family and, so, we're all good friends because of it. And the show's good and that's cool, too."

The series co-stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo and James Remar.