SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains very minor spoilers for IT Chapter Two. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
When he is first introduced, James Ransone’s Eddie in IT Chapter Two shows that he has matured in some ways from the character’s original portrayal by Jack Dylan Grazer in the first film – living in New York City and working as a successful risk assessor. However, there are just as many things about him that show he hasn’t really grown at all – from the fact that his wife, Myra, fully occupies the space in his life that was once occupied by his Munchausen syndrome by proxy-afflicted mother, to the fact that he remains ridiculously neurotic.
Because of this, it’s little surprise that adult Eddie is given similar treatment as his childhood self when Pennywise gets him alone, tormenting him as a leprosy-riddled vagrant. The end result is one of the most disgusting moments in all of IT Chapter Two, with the haunting visage unloading about a gallon of vomit right into the character’s face – but as hyper gross as it is to watch play out on the big screen, it was even harder for Eddie Ransone to physically experience. In fact, according to the actor, he nearly passed out while filming it:
James Ransone was paired with Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, and Andy Bean for interviews during the Los Angeles press day for IT Chapter Two at the end of last month, and it was while discussing memorable moments on set that the puking scene came up in conversation. I put up a broad question to the group, asking what moment they would remember in the future when thinking back on their experience making the movie, and weirdly it was Hader that brought up Ransone being blasted in the face with fake vomit.
Bill Hader wasn’t actually on set for when the moment was being filmed, as production had started on the second season of his HBO series Barry, but he knew all about it because director Andy Muschietti sent him a video. The former Saturday Night Live star thought it was absolutely hilarious (and to his credit, it definitely is), but Ransone then interjected noting that he wasn’t laughing a whole lot when it was happening.
Describing the experience, Ransone said that Andy Muschietti didn’t push him too far by asking for a large number of takes, but those they did film took a lot out of him:
This is one of those cases where it would have been absolutely horrible if the scene ultimately didn’t quite fit into the theatrical cut of IT Chapter Two… but fortunately that’s not what happened. The bit is included in the movie, and it’s most definitely a memorable highlight. And now that it is in his past, James Ransone can joke about that one time when a horrific leper vomited in his face on set.
That scene and many more joyous bits of horror goodness are now playing in theaters around the globe, with IT Chapter Two now in wide release.