Chris Chalk in 'It: Welcome to Derry.' Brooke Palmer/HBO Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text [This story contains spoilers from It: Welcome to Derry episode five, "29 Neibolt Street."] With each passing week on It: Welcome to Derry, Chris Chalk further proves he was the ideal choice to fill the big shoes of Stephen King-verse character Dick Hallorann. Following in the footsteps of previous on-screen Dick Hallorann portrayals - including Scatman Crothers (1980's The Shining), Melvin van Peebles (1997's Shining miniseries) and Carl Lumbly (2019's Doctor Sleep) - may seem like a tall order, but the North Carolina native learned long ago through working with the likes of Denzel Washington, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis that one must command their own respect to succeed. Chalk certainly revisited these previous takes on the psychic who inherited his gift to "shine" from his grandmother, but he ultimately made a point to carve out his own niche. Related Stories Movies James Remar Is Still Thinking About Christopher Nolan Standing for 12 Hours on 'The Odyssey' TV 'It: Welcome to Derry' Just Dropped This Stunning Opening Credits Sequence: "A Descent Into Dread" The 1962-set prequel series - which takes place 27 years before the events of Andy Muschietti's It Chapter One (2017) and 54 years before It Chapter Two (2019) - finds the future head chef at the Overlook Hotel in a unique position for the U.S. Armed Forces. As Airman Hallorann, he's been applying his telepathic and clairvoyant gifts to help the Army find a "weapon" to end the Cold War. From the start, the audience is well aware that the weapon is "It," the malevolent shapeshifting entity most recognizable as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (played by Bill Skarsgård). Along the way, Hallorann befriends Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), who is the father of Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James). (In King's It novel, Will's eventual son, Mike, recalls a tale in which Halloran saved his father's life from an arson-set fire at a Derry club called The Black Spot.) During last night's fifth episode, "29 Neibolt Street," written by co-showrunner Brad Caleb Kane, the visage of Skarsgård's Pennywise has finally been brought to the fore, and It turns the tables on Hallorann by opening up a mystery box of horrors that Dick has long suppressed inside his brain. "Everything that happened before this moment is so tiny in comparison to that box now being open," Chalk tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It's saying, 'Now we have danger. Not only do we have Pennywise, this living fucking nightmare, but now we have all of Dickie's past nightmares and traumas and pains set free. What are you going to do now, Mr. Psychic?'" With three episodes remaining in season one, Chalk teases what lies ahead now that Pennywise is out in the open. "Dick continues to disintegrate into the madness," Chalk says. "We know where it's going. We've seen It Chapter One and It Chapter Two. How can you beat Pennywise, guys? Is that even possible for this group of ragtag goofballs? We'll see." Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Chalk also discusses his special bond with Adepo, before elaborating on the prevailing lesson he picked up from working with industry heavyweights. *** Given the legacy of Dick Hallorann, how much rigmarole was there during the casting process? Very little. There was a conversation where [EP-director] Andy [Muschietti] had already said, "I like him," and then I think I miscommunicated that and thought, "Oh, they gave it to me." But then someone said, "Come read for it." I remember being slightly annoyed, but saying sure. I hadn't been to a [casting] office in a very long time, and I remember knowing the guy that I was there to read with that day. He's enormous, like weightlifter big, and I thought, "That doesn't make sense. Why would they cast a guy that big?" He looked like a professional wrestler and was auditioning for the Leroy [Hanlon] part. I won't say his name because he didn't book it. But we read, and he smelled like a cigarette. I hated that. Then, a few days later, I found out I booked it. I think Andy is pretty good about knowing what he wants. Chris Chalk's Dick Hallorann in IT: Welcome to Derry. Brooke Palmer/HBO Are in-person auditions making a comeback? No, not for me, but man, I miss it. It's a superpower you develop, and now they've taken it away from you. I know that essence, not impression, is the name of the game, so how much tape did you watch on previous iterations of Dickie Hallorann? I gave all the Dickies a little bit of time, but not too much. Like you said, it's the essence, and we're all drawing from the same source material. I did want to honor Scatman [Crothers] because we all love him. I haven't read a single person on Earth who's like, "I