The history of Stephen King on the small screen is extensive. While the first ever King adaptation, director Brian De Palma’s Carrie, was made for theatrical release, the second one, Salem’s Lot, aired across two nights on CBS three years later. A legacy has been built in the last five decades, from 1990’s IT, 2002’s The Dead Zone, to 2020’s The Outsider, and it will continue to expand with the development of the HBO Max series Welcome To Derry.
Set with Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane as showrunners and Andy and Barbara Muschietti as producers, Welcome To Derry is an upcoming show that will exist as a prequel to the films IT and IT Chapter Two (which Andy Muschietti directed). The project is coming together quickly, and while an official release date has not yet been set, a number of talented actors have been announced as part of the cast. To keep track of all of the additions rolling in, we’ve put together this feature, starting with…
Chris Chalk
It was in April 2023 that we first started learning about the stars who would be a part of Welcome To Derry’s ensemble, and Chris Chalk was among that list of names. Chalk is a TV veteran who has been a part of a number of acclaimed and noteworthy shows, including The Newsroom, Underground, Gotham, Shining Girls, and Perry Mason. Unfortunately, as is the case with all of the actors in this feature, we don’t yet know anything about the character will be playing, the size of his part, or how he will fit into the show’s plot.
Jovan Adepo
Of all the actors who have signed on to Welcome To Derry thus far, Jovan Adepo is the only one who has previous experience in Stephen King adaptations. At the end of 2020, he starred as Larry Underwood in the Paramount+ miniseries remake of The Stand. He’s done a number of big screen projects, including the horror/war movie Overlord and director Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood epic Babylon, but his small screen credits include the Damon Lindelof-created HBO series Watchmen and Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Three Body Problem.
James Remar
Despite having a filmography that stretches back to the 1970s with limited gaps, James Remar has never been a part of a Stephen King-related project before. Any time is a good time for a first, though, and Welcome To Derry is can be considered lucky to have one of the industry’s consummate character actors aboard. He’s had a long and storied career, from starring in Walter Hill’s The Warriors, to playing Dexter Morgan’s father on Dexter, to two Quentin Tarantino films: Django Unchained and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. He’s most recently had a recurring role on the revival series Magnum P.I.
Taylour Paige
Taylour Paige has been quite busy since her breakout year in 2020 – which saw her star as the titular character in Zola and opposite Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. She's added to her indie cred working with writer/directors Eddie Huang and Lena Dunham on Boogie and Sharp Stick, respectively, and she has a supporting role in writer/director Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams, which debuted at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Like Remar, Adepo, and Chalk, she was among the first actors to be announced as part of the Welcome To Derry cast, but specifics about her role are unknown.
Stephen Rider
It was less than two weeks after that aforementioned initial casting announcement that Deadline reported another two stars joining the IT prequel show. Stephen Rider is perhaps best known to audiences for his role in the Marvel Netflix TV shows – having played District Attorney Blake Tower in both Daredevil and Luke Cage. Since then he has starred on the series Instinct with Alan Cuming and done episodes of FBI: Most Wanted and The Good Fight.
Madeleine Stowe
It was in the same trade article as Stephen Rider that Madeleine Stowe was revealed as part of the Welcome To Derry cast. A veteran star, Stowe’s standout credits from the big screen include the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, director Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, director Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, but in recent years she’s been best known for playing Victoria Grayson on the long-running ABC series Revenge.
We’ll continue to update this feature as more actors are announced as part of the Welcome To Derry cast, so be sure to check back. You can learn about all of the Stephen King adaptations that are in the works with our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide, and learn about the full history and legacy with my Adapting Stephen King column.
