SPOILERS: This post contains details about the IT: Welcome to Derry, Season 1 finale ‘Winter Fire’
Although Taylour Paige survived the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry, she doesn’t agree with her character’s big decision at the end of the finale.
The actress who stars as Charlotte Hanlon on the HBO Max prequel series admitted she “wanted more” for the wife and mother who decides not to leave the titular cursed town with her husband Leroy (Jovan Adepo) and son Will (Blake Cameron James), instead accepting the treacherous duty of defending Derry and keeping the evil dormant until the next wave of attacks in 1988.
“No, I’m not happy with the way this was written, if I’m being honest,” she said. “I’m like, ‘There’s no f*cking way.’ I mean, I guess the lore is that you forget when you’re in Derry, but I don’t buy it.”
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Although Paige conceded that “maybe it makes sense for 1962 that you kind of shut up and you get back to business, you get back to being a homemaker, and you’re the nucleus of the family, I guess.”
“I wanted more for Charlotte and this family, but I think it would have been maybe too radical for Charlotte to leave,” added Paige. “And also too radical for women of 1962 to be like, ‘I’m out.’ That was very rare. It just didn’t really happen then, right? Most people stayed in loveless marriages. Most women, I think, were martyrs had to deny themselves to keep the family together.”
Paige explained that she relates to Charlotte’s “incredible well of empathy” even more now that she’s become a mother after filming the series, noting how the character’s protective nature over Will drives her to help Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) escape a wrongful murder conviction, despite Leroy’s disapproval of her “damn fool missions.”
“It’s also, I think, being a mother—at least I can speak to it now after, I wasn’t a mother when I was shooting—but I think becoming a mother gives you these superpowers, and this super kind of compassion,” she said adding: “So, I was happy that was a nice way to kind of get a little bit of more of Charlotte’s inner world and the way that she thinks, and what she believes in, kind of gives you a little bit more color than just like, she’s at home cooking, stewing.”
Read on about Taylour Paige’s experience bringing Charlotte Hanlon to life on IT: Welcome to Derry, as well as her serendipitous connection to co-creator Barbara Muschietti.
DEADLINE: How much did you know about IT and he Stephen King universe going into this?
TAYLOUR PAIGE: I knew Stephen King as one of the greatest minds of all time, just a great thinker, imaginer, a creator of the wildest, most darkest parts of humanity’s psyche. And of course, I think of all the different interpretations in film of his writing. And that was as far as it goes, I’m not a horror fan, so I have stayed very far away from all horror. But I can appreciate someone’s great imagination, and so I’m here.
DEADLINE: Were able to stomach watching any of the episodes back? Which was the scariest for you to film?
PAIGE: I think the scariest would probably be the most recent, which was ‘The Black Spot’. I mean, the set was beautiful, but it was just a horrific thing to see, and it was all too jarring, the reality of a bunch of people being burned alive, a bunch of Black people, and how often this happened, It’s just a little too real.
DEADLINE: How do you reflect on that idea that, in a show where the characters are already up against this monster who eats children, the most sinister thing they’re facing is actually just completely human?
PAIGE: Right. Well, that’s kind of the beauty of IT, it’s interesting because Stephen King did write this in the book, and I think from what I know, it’s even more crazy and gory and really, really dark—which obviously, what could be darker than racism, and people being murdered for the color of their skin, and children being burned alive, and just hatred? And what that does, and what that reflects about the human spirit, and how relentless racism is, and how insidious and insane it is, the banality of evil—I have so many things I could say. It’s just gut-wrenching, it’s yuck.
DEADLINE: Yeah, It was really hard to watch too. Since the show premiered, I’ve been seeing a lot of fans on social media talking about how Charlotte is the only one in Derry with any sense. Why do you think she sees through the town’s evil cloak?
PAIGE: Because she’s a woman … because she can consult her gut and her root and knows that this is fucked, and also that it doesn’t have to be this way. I think Charlotte is just awake. From episode two, when she breaks up that fight and everyone’s kind of going about their business as if nothing’s happening, it’s crazy. I think to be a woman of color is already to accept that most of your life is one of being gaslit, one of being ignored, one of having to prove something, even if you have a lot to offer the world, or even if you have a really strong point of view. You have to basically fold and contort and practice perfect ways in delivering your point, but keeping it really precise. And also knowing when to shut up, even when you’ve observed something. I think you live in this uncomfortable, kind of suppressing of what is, to survive, and a lot of living in the, “I told you guys, I told you so,” which is exhausting.
DEADLINE: Before everything goes down and the penultimate and the finale, Charlotte wants to get out and take Will with her. But she ultimately decides to stay and protect Derry. Do you think she made the right decision?
PAIGE: No, I’m not happy with the way this was written, if I’m being honest. I’m like, “There’s no fucking way.” I mean, I guess the lore is that you forget when you’re in Derry, but I don’t buy it. I guess, maybe it makes sense for 1962 that you kind of shut up and you get back to business, you get back to being a homemaker, and you’re the nucleus of the family, I guess. I wanted more for Charlotte and this family, but I think it would have been maybe too radical for Charlotte to leave. And also too radical for women of 1962 to be like, “I’m out.” That was very rare. It just didn’t really happen then, right? Most people stayed in loveless marriages. Most women, I think, were martyrs had to deny themselves to keep the family together.
DEADLINE: I also love that she’s so passionate about helping Hank throughout this whole season. Can you tell me a little bit about that dynamic? Because that is an area where she is going against her husband and doing what’s right.
PAIGE: Charlotte’s got an incredible well of empathy. It’s also, I think, being a mother—at least I can speak to it now after, I wasn’t a mother when I was shooting—but I think becoming a mother gives you these superpowers, and this super kind of compassion. If you were already compassionate, it’s like you can’t even believe how wide it can expand and how much you almost feel like the world can feel your heartbeat, because now you’re like, “That’s somebody’s child.” Like, every time I see someone in the world now, I think like that’s someone’s child, that’s someone’s world, that was someone’s world. So, I think when she takes Hank, it’s like, “This could be my son one day, and this is a human being. You’re wrong.” So, I was happy that was a nice way to kind of get a little bit of more of Charlotte’s inner world and the way that she thinks, and what she believes in, kind of gives you a little bit more color than just like, she’s at home cooking, stewing.
DEADLINE: I know you said you found a lot of it scary, but did the kids find any of it scary? Because honestly, they were just acting their butts off.
PAIGE: I know, they’re so amazing. I have to be honest, that’s not something I’m sure about. I’m not sure. Whenever I would see them, they would come over and hug me, and they’re just so damn cute. I don’t think I asked, “Are you guys scared?” So jokes on me, I’m not really sure. I don’t think so, but hopefully, give it 10 years, they’re not in therapy because of some sh*t that went down because of the show. [LAUGHS]
DEADLINE: Can you tell me a little bit about the audition process and how you originally came onto the show?
PAIGE: My agent at the time brought it to me. She’s like, “I want you to sit with the filmmakers, Andy [Muschietti] and his sister Barbara. Barbara produces, and they want to meet you.” So, we literally met on a Sunday. We talked for two hours. We probably could have kept talking. Barbara and I had on our wrists, essentially the same matching tattoo, which hers is in Spanish. But they basically say “fear not,” which they were talking about the instrument of fear and this town, and it was just perfect, right? And there was just so much resonance, and what would have been an audition was actually an offer.
DEADLINE: That’s amazing. I love that little serendipitous moment. And I know that the future seasons are gonna keep going back in time to each time Pennywise visits Derry, but I’m curious if there’s any chance we’ll see you return. Maybe like how American Horror Story reuses actors in different roles.
PAIGE: Yeah, that would be sick. I don’t think so, I mean that would be cool, but I don’t think so. I think that’s it for Charlotte. Unless they want to give Charlotte a spin-off.