It scares us how much we’re loving James McAvoy and Bill Hader’s off-screen bromance

There’s little doubt that IT: Chapter Two, the follow up to the 2017 film adaption of Stephen King’s iconic novel, is just as spine-tingling, nightmare-inducing and generally traumatic as its predecessor, if not even more.

But what truly scares us most is how much we’re loving the beautiful off-screen bromance between co-stars James McAvoy, of Atonement and X-Men fame, and Saturday Night Live great Bill Hader.

James and Bill’s bromance

The pair, who play grownup versions of two members of the infamous ‘Losers Club’, let their friendship shine during a candid chat with Yahoo Lifestyle in LA ahead of the film’s Australian premiere on September 5.

While making friends on the set of a horror film about a sadistic, child-killing clown might sound odd, both James and Bill claim they found time for bonding, in their own unusual way.

“We were quite often wet at certain points in the filming of this so we’d all be in a hot tent together,” James reveals.

“We’d all have a sauna, essentially,” he adds.

“It was nice,” agrees Bill. Well, it certainly sounds cosy.

Beating IT

Elsewhere in the chat, James and Bill are candid about the pressure of stepping into the roles of Bill Denbrough and Richie Tozier respectively, who we first met as kids in the highly successful first instalment, IT.

So, how did they cope with the pressure of filming a sequel to what is currently the highest grossing horror film of all time?

“We had a lot of massage therapy,” James deadpans, adding that he and his fellow ‘Losers’ participated in energy healing or Reiki together and “held hands” to ease the stress.

At this point Bill pipes in to point out that the director, Andy Muschietti, liked to remind them of his expectations by sporting a t-shirt emblazoned with IT’s huge earnings - a cool $700 million.

We think the notorious jokester is having us on, but you never know...

Bill’s Oscar buzz

One thing Bill isn’t joking about is his thoughts on the Oscar buzz surrounding his portrayal of the conflicted adult Richie.

“I think it’s over-hyped,” he responds when we quiz him about widespread praise by critics for his “scene-stealing performance”.

James jumps in with a twinkle in his eye to scold his co-star for stealing “every one of my scenes,” to which a smirking Bill counters, “I went to scene-stealing school”.

Get these two their own buddy comedy, and pronto.

IT: Chapter Two hits Australian cinemas on September 5.

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