The following is an excerpt from Justin Cook’s interview with the cast and creators of Castle Rock at New York Comic Con…

It’s safe to say that 2017 has been a good year for Bill Skarsgård. Not only has the young actor’s name been on the rise ever since starring as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Andy Muschietti’s hugely successful adaptation of Stephen King’s It, but he’s also currently shooting Hulu’s Castle Rock, an anthology series that brings together a number of King’s works set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine.

Clearly, Skarsgård has King to thank for much of his success, but as it turns out (as of Sunday, October 8th), the actor and best-selling author still have yet to meet.

Flickering Myth spoke to Skarsgård at New York Comic Con and asked him what it was like having his career so heavily influenced by King’s books, to which he replied, “Yeah it’s crazy. Obviously It was a direct adaptation of his novel and this is a world set in Castle Rock, so I went back and read a lot of Stephen King for inspiration. It’s a weird thing. I haven’t met him yet. He’s responsible for my two latest jobs, so I have to thank him.”

The actor did go on to say that he hopes the author can make it out to the set of Castle Rock, presumably so he can finally thank him in person.

While Skarsgård was tight-lipped about the role he’ll be playing on Castle Rock, he did reveal that the character is a prisoner at Shawshank (yes, the titular prison from The Shawshank Redemption) and comes into contact with André Holland’s Henry, a death-row attorney, during his time there.

Interviews with the rest of the cast and creators of Castle Rock, including Melanie Lynskey, André Holland, Dustin Thomason and Sam Shaw, will be up shortly, but in the meantime, check out the NYCC trailer for the 2018 show right here.

Castle Rock also stars Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, Scott Glenn and Terry O’Quinn and is executive produced by J.J. Abrams. The upcoming program is described as a psychological horror series which “combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.”