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This interview contains spoilers to IT: Welcome to Derry.
Growing up, I was terrified of the ghost character from Ring. My sister, on the other hand, was outright terrified of clowns; still is. So, it was only later in high school when I discovered IT by Tommy Lee Wallace and became fascinated by the central character, Pennywise. The remakes came later, in 2017 and in 2019, and I thought that would be it, but I was pleasantly surprised to see IT: Welcome to Derry, a prequel show developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs. Starring Taylor Paige, Jovan Adepo, Clara Stack, and, of course, Bill Skarsgård, amongst others, the show delves deeper into the origin story of Pennywise, examines the characters’ daily battles with ever-present fear, and illustrates how it can take different facades. When it comes to the show, I was especially impressed with the child star ensemble and the way they expertly portray torment.
Thus, when the occasion presented itself, I jumped on the opportunity to chat with one of the cast members—Miles Ekhardt. Perfectly polite and pleasant to talk to, Miles was born in Iowa, and it was his brother who inspired his love for acting: first in theater, then further to expand the acting horizons. In IT: Welcome to Derry, Miles portrays Matty Clemens, a pivotal character in the first few episodes of the show who essentially activates the entire trail of fear, terror, and torment; all the things the creepy clown feeds on. Starting our chat, I of course had to ask Miles about whether or not he’s been a horror fan before starring in the HBO Max Original. He admitted that he’s a little closer to the “terrified” end than the “fan” end. He shared that he hasn’t watched many horror movies, but he’s now more open, partially as he ages and partially just after the series.
Collaborating on-screen mostly with Stack at the beginning of the show, Ekhardt’s Matty is a down-on-his-luck boy with a tough family situation; thus, he spends most of his time outside or in Derry’s one and only cinema. I asked Miles how much of his personality is in Matty: “There’s definitely a little me in there. I love movies, and so that’s associated with why I act. I love this whole industry, I love this whole process, but Matty is more of a fan of movies because he loves not being in his current situation, and he loves getting to escape into this world. I don’t think there’s much of me in that aspect for this character. My life is not as tremendously horrible as his, luckily.”
In the show, after Matty gets in trouble at the cinema, he attempts to flee when he’s suddenly picked up by a Portland-bound family of four (portrayed by Zoë Barrett-Wood, Mark MacRae, Audrey Wellington, and Lochlan Miller). Soon, Matty realizes that something far more sinister lurks beneath the surface. In this scene, Miles does an extraordinary job portraying authentic fear, especially as the car scene is quite gory (“The Mother” gives birth to a demon). I asked Miles about how it was working on that scene: “Something that I’ve had to learn how to do as I’ve been doing film acting is that you really have to get in the headspace of the character. I really have to be thinking of something that’s scaring me. Personally, I just think of giant centipedes. You need to have that thought, which we did for this scene, so that you can get all these little expressions and all these natural things to come out. You can’t really fake it,” Miles admits. “There were a lot of things like that, a lot of imagining what could be happening in the future in this scene. Just getting some of that attention, trying to put some of that unknown back into the mind space so that I could get all that visceral fear,” he says. To prepare for IT: Welcome to Derry, Miles worked closely with his acting coach to explore the emotional layers of Matty.
Miles Ekhardt Breaks Down Matty’s Fear, His Acting Process, and the Horrors of ‘IT: Welcome to Derry‘
Naturally, I was very intrigued by the part about giant centipedes. It always fascinates me to ask about actors’ inspirations and acting methods, especially in such a visual genre as horror. I inquired with Miles if there is anything more than the extra-sized arthropods that work:
“I might admit that the more physical centipede technique doesn’t work too well on me [after some time]. Anything that I can kind of ground in reality doesn’t. So, for that [car] scene in particular, there was a little bit of that, but it was mainly that element of the unknown, where I have to detach from “the me” a little. Getting into that headspace of not really understanding what is going to happen. And that’s the space where I could actually get that more visceral fear coming in. There was also some element of getting my breathing in there, getting that stress, and the rest of the body naturally follows. Cause it’s the equation of all, it works both ways on acting stressed, it feels like there’s something to be afraid of.”
Miles also admitted he had much fun, acting alongside Zoë Barrett-Wood, Mark MacRae, Audrey Wellington, and Lochlan Miller: “I did a lot off set things with them, we went boating on the lake, we had all these fun little things happening between takes, all these little jokes. There was just this natural rapport. And even on top of that, in the scene, they’re good at actually being creepy. They can just really get into that state, and they don’t make it too hard on me to figure out what to be scared of, because they can play it eerie.”
Even though Miles only appears in the few episodes, his character leaves a lasting impression, as Matty is forever tied to the beginning of unraveling in the 60s Derry. Being so young, he can already become a memorable presence wherever he stars. I was curious to hear if he has any other role models other than his brother: “Not really. I’ve kind of stumbled my way into being a film actor, saying “yes” to more and more things, until eventually I had an agent, and eventually, I’m auditioning for this. I don’t think there was really a step in the process where I realized this is where the end would be. So, no, I don’t think there was anyone in particular that really made me want to pursue this, but I’m very glad now that I’m here.”, he admitted. He confirmed he continues auditioning and putting himself out there. I asked him if he wants to explore the horror genre more: “I’m really interested in the horror genre. I like filming this a lot. I would not mind going back into it. I would also not mind going into some other genre just to prove to myself that I am able of acting in there if I’m being honest. But I would not mind doing something like this [horror genre] again.”
If there is anything that proves Miles’ talent for the aforementioned genre, it’s most certainly his performance in IT: Welcome to Derry. If you still haven’t had a chance to check out the prequel to IT, this interview is your sign to dive in. We at Nerdspin wish Miles much luck in his future endeavors!
Episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry air on HBO Max every Sunday at 9 pm ET.
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IT: Welcome to Derry
In 1962, a couple with their son move to Derry, Maine just as a young boy disappears. With their arrival, very bad things begin to happen in the town.
Release Date: October 26, 2025
Director: Andy Muschietti Barbara Muschietti
Cast: Taylour Paige , Jovan Adepo , Bill Skarsgård
