When Toronto-born actor Peter Outerbridge (Sullivan’s Crossing, Batwoman, Murdoch Mysteries) first auditioned for what was mysteriously billed as Fairview, he had little idea he was reading for the prequel to It. As in, Stephen King’s It.
“They don’t let you know what you’re auditioning for when it’s something like this,” he recalls with a laugh. “All I knew was I was auditioning for a very bad man.” The audition sides were “particularly dark and terrible,” and the project title was deliberately misleading. But the scenes stuck: Outerbridge was cast as Chief Clint Bowers in HBO’s highly anticipated upcoming series It: Welcome to Derry, which also sees Bill Skarsgard return as the frightful Pennywise from the recent film adaptations. It drops on Crave and HBO Max on Oct. 26.
For fans of King, the surname Bowers is a loaded one. Chief Bowers himself doesn’t appear in King’s 1986 novel, but the series introduces him as a new character tied to the family’s infamous legacy. “When I found out I was playing [him], it was quite exciting,” says Outerbridge. “They wanted that family to be represented in the backstory, so he’s sort of a composite of some of the characters from the book.”
A veteran of genre fare (he’s previously acted in Saw VI, Population 436, horror sequel Silent Hill: Revelation and more), Outerbridge relishes the chance to flex his horror muscle. “Horror explores our nightmares and fears through analogy and metaphor,” he says. “King’s heroes aren’t superheroes. They’re just everyday people — Bob from the Circle K — suddenly put into a situation where they’ve got to save the universe. That’s what draws us in: the last people that you think of as being heroes are a bunch of misfit kids who get picked on and bullied, right? Even as adults, they’re all very dysfunctional and they all have their problems, like most of us.”
Filming Welcome to Derry was both a professional thrill and a personal homecoming. Though much of the series shot in Port Hope, chosen once again for its uncanny New England look, Outerbridge relished returning to Toronto for studio scenes — and to his family each night.
“Hollywood keeps calling Toronto,” he says. “The crews here are amazing and internationally known for their excellence. They problem-solve like crazy and get the job done.”
In fact, the difference in scale between Canadian and American productions was immediately apparent. “The biggest difference is money,” he admits. “In Canada, you don’t have the budget to throw money at problems, so crews learn to solve them creatively. On Derry, they didn’t want it to look like a TV version of the movies. So, every episode was shot like a film, for a month to two months. When you have money and it’s being used well, you really feel like you’re a part of something spectacular.”
He’s quick to point out, though, that Canada’s leaner budgets shape a different kind of artistry. “We shoot 17 pages a day sometimes. You get one or two takes, and you move on. That teaches you to be efficient and sharp as an actor. It’s a different muscle.”
Off-set, Outerbridge is every bit the Torontonian. Ask him about restaurants and he rattles off favourites across the city: a beloved sushi spot since closed on Bloor, The Friendly Greek on the Danforth, his local go-to Paupers Pub in the Annex. “That’s one of the best things about Toronto,” he says. “It’s such a multicultural hub. You can say, ‘I’m in the mood for seafood tonight,’ and you’ll find an incredible oyster bar downtown.”
Meanwhile, his formative moviegoing years were spent at the now-demolished University Theatre on Bloor Street, which still marks a milestone. “That was it, man — that’s where all the big premieres opened. The screen was enormous. Back then, you could sneak in and watch the same movie all day. That was my place.”
Today, he lives in the Annex, which he praises as one of Toronto’s friendliest and most walkable neighbourhoods. But he’s also drawn to the Junction. “It feels like what the Annex was 20 or 30 years ago,” he says. “It still has that edge to it. Gentrification is coming, but it hasn’t lost its grit yet.”
Outerbridge speaks about his hometown with the same warmth and pride that he brings to his work. For him, Welcome to Derry represents not just another credit in a long and eclectic career, but the chance to step into the vast and unsettling imagination of Stephen King — while staying rooted in the city that shaped him.
