Casting is one of the most important aspects of any film or series. Even if it’s a shot-for-shot remake, there’s a vast difference between the originalFunny Gamesand the English version, despite both having the same director. The same could be said ofPsycho; Anthony Perkins' character would be played by Vince Vaughan in the remake, and the difference is palpable. There’s an alternate universe out there where thousands of films are vastly different because one actor was chosen instead of another. AddBoy Kills Worldto the casting multiverse, because instead ofBill Skarsgård, comedianPete Davidsonwas almost cast as the titular ‘Boy.’
“One of the original ideas was Pete Davidson. That was an idea, and that’d be far more of a comedy. But when you see Bill, and you know how serious and dramatic he is, but also how expressive he is, it was just like, we had to get him,” said Alex Lebovici of Hammerstone Studios, one of the production companies (alongside Sam Raimi’s) behindBoy Kills World. The character of Boy seeks out bloody revenge but is also deaf and mute, and thus the performance is entirely physical.
Boy Kills World
Lebovici explained thatBoy Kills Worldwalks a difficult tonal tightrope between serious drama and wacky comedy, and thatif Davidson were cast, the film may have become too goofy, even though the character of Boy never actually speaks — we only hear his internal monologue,voiced by the great H. Jon Benjamin(Archer, Bob’s Burgers, Home Movies).
“Tone is always so tricky,” elaborated Lebovici. “But one of the things that made us comfortable with attacking this was the voiceover. We knew in post-production, we would have the time and the ability to massage it and work through those nuances to get that tone right. Because you strip out that voiceover, and the tone is very different from what’s on the screen. So it’s set up for it to be really funny, and the script isone of the funniest scripts that I’ve read in my career.” He continued:
“What’s actually interesting was that, I think the performances, from Bill [Skarsgård] especially, were a lot more serious than in the way it was written. The script was written a little bit more like a comedy, and he brought so much depth to it and so much nuance to it, and was dramatic.So that made it a little bit complicated to hit the tone. But we knew, again, with the voiceover and the post-production, we could land it.”
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Bill Skarsgård’s performanceinBoy Kills Worldis genuinely phenomenal. He brings to mind Buster Keaton’s dangerous physical stunts and communicative eyes, with a bit of the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks. It’s a performance filled with slapstick humor and death-defying action, and he elevatesBoy Kills Worldbeyond the ordinary action comedy.
“When I came in, it was just the script, and Sam Raimi and Roy Lee were on, and we had this awesome short film that really sets the tone.And we went to go cast this and there were other actors that were initially, you know, thought of for that part, and we spent a lot of time just exploring and thinking on who would be best,” explained Lebovici. He continued:
“And I think it was actually Bill’s agents that had reached out to us and said, ‘We got a hold of this, and you should consider him.’ Right away we were like, 100%. He’s so expressive.And we watched these clips of him behind the scenes in his audition tape forIT, and we saw what he could do with his eyes and his face, and we’re like, ‘Oh, it’s got to be him.'”
So, while there may be some alternate reality where Pete Davidson leads the film, we agree that this is the best of all possible worlds when it comes toBoy Kills World.
