According to Deadline, although it seems that the creators of HBO Max’s IT: Welcome to Derry had their work cut out for them during the WGA strikes, some cast members benefited from the downtime. Stephen Rider (Event 15, Becoming), who plays Hank Grogan, stated that during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, along with his onscreen daughter, Amanda Christine (Black Box, O.G), amid a break from filming.
“I talk to them all the time. I still talk to Amanda, we talk. Like that’s my family,” he said on The Official It: Welcome to Derry Podcast via Deadline. “And I think the biggest blessing beyond that, in a lot of ways, was the strike. Because it allowed all of us to really sit with these relationships and we would FaceTime each other and talk. And she would tell me, her being a little young, like my niece … dealing with life. You know what I’m saying? But it allowed us to build an intimate relationship.”
Rider continued via Deadline, “And we had only filmed a little bit before we went on strike. I think the biggest blessing is that we came back and we had a genuine relationship that transcended, just me and her. Our families know each other, and we still talk. And so, I love Amanda. And I didn’t have to pretend on loving her. Now, of course, I had to personalize that because she’s still not my daughter. But the fact that we learned how to love each other, and more so, especially for Black women, she had to learn how to trust me. And I think it was important for me to allow her to recognize that she could lean on me, she could depend on me, and I was consistent, and I would show up, not just on set, but show up. And because of it, I believe we were able to hopefully transcend what the pages quote unquote said.”
As per Deadline, Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It), co-creator of the series previously estimated that “90% of three episodes” had been filmed before production shut down amid the strikes.
“We suddenly had to work in different seasons,” she explained earlier this month via Deadline. “This is a summer show, but suddenly it wasn’t a summer show anymore. We had to create a different finale with a different climate.”
Additionally, Muschietti noted via Deadline, “The kids were growing. Voices were changing. Schedules of actors suddenly became hellish. So it was a huge challenge for the studio as well.”
IT: Welcome to Derry is available to stream on HBO Max.