SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from Season 1, Episode 4 of “It: Welcome to Derry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
Taylour Paige first appears as Charlotte Hanlon in the second episode of HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry.” While the Hanlon family plays a major role in Stephen King’s original novel and the 2017 and 2019 “It” films, Charlotte is an original character on the show. The wife of Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) and mother of Will Hanlon (James Cameron Blake), she arrives in Derry with her son after the military moved Leroy from Louisiana to Maine. Across Episodes 2 and 3, we learn about her background and values, how she was active in the Civil Rights movement down south and found community through activism.
Now settled in Maine, Charlotte is more isolated, and the opportunities for activism do not present themselves in the same ways. In Episode 4, we get to see Charlotte in action, as she takes an interest in Hank Grogan’s (Stephen Rider) case, figuring out that he’s a scapegoat for the town’s missing children and acknowledging that racism persists in the North. While much of “Welcome to Derry” is fantastical and paranormal, exploring topics like racism and trauma through a lens of supernatural horror, Charlotte navigates Derry’s more grounded horrors and the realities of its 1962 setting.
Variety spoke with Paige about her role, her fear of scary stories and the joy of creating a family on set.
How did you end up getting the role of Charlotte Hanlon on “Welcome to Derry”?
I met with Andy and Barbara on a Sunday in February 2023. We had a call that was almost two hours of us just connecting and them explaining the world they were building with the show. I knew that they had the success with the films. And I’m not a big horror person, so full disclosure, I had never seen the films because I literally am scared. But I just had a good feeling about them, and I was right. I love them.
Have you since watched “It: Chapter 1” and “It: Chapter 2”?
I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna finish our show, and then I’ll watch “Chapter 1” and “2” in order.
Have you read the book by Stephen King?
Oh no, no, no. My imagination is too wild. I’m a big reader, but I’m so sensitive when I read.
Although the Hanlon family is very present in the source material, Charlotte is an original character in “Welcome to Derry.” Do you know who created her and how?
Andy and Barbara created her, but I never asked how or why. I didn’t go too deep on the genesis, but obviously, we need a woman to give birth to this family, right? We need the parents of Mike Hanlon, so first we need Charlotte.
Being a wife and mother is definitely a big part of Charlotte’s story. How was it building that dynamic with Jovan Adepo and Blake Cameron James as your on-screen husband and son, respectively?
I love Jovan and I love Blake. I think we very quickly felt like a family. Jovan takes the craft really seriously, and Blake is just an incredible young talent who is very interested and curious. He’s a sweetie pie from the South, so he is always like, “Yes, ma’am” and “No ma’am.” It’s funny, because I’m like, “I’m not old. You can literally just call me Taylour.” It’s so cute. Jovan is just incredibly talented and funny. We bickered a lot, but in a jokey way. From the time we met, we were laughing. Jovan also made us a playlist. We had Sam Cooke on there and Fitzgerald, and good jazz. We gave ourselves a story and created a bit of familiarity between us, so that it felt like two people who met when they were 14 and got married young and had a son and have had to move a lot. I think it works.
Charlotte is, of course, far more than just a wife or mother. In Episode 4, we get to see her in action, trying to help Hank Grogan prove his innocence. Did you enjoy playing this Civil Rights detective?
Yes. Naturally, when you’re acting and you get good material and you get to do more, you’re stoked. So, yes, I got to do so much more in Episode 4. I think you get to really see her in action. You get to see her passion, her integrity, her morale and her relentless spirit. Also, in an interesting way, although it’s pure from Charlotte, her activism is a product of the boredom and the stirring in Derry. When she was in the South, there was such camaraderie, even though the South was wrought with such craziness. But in Derry, she’s alone and its isolating and she wants to help this other Black family.
How was it sharing those scenes with Stephen Rider in the jail, where Mike Grogan is confessing, and you’re both recognizing some of Derry’s systemic racism?
It’s interesting because while there’s a lot of dialogue, the eyes are doing a lot in those scenes. It’s a sign of the times that him being caught with a white woman could actually be far more dangerous than him killing a bunch of kids. It’s beyond insidious. It’s such a heartbreaking scene. And then Charlotte gives him this incredulous look, like she’s acknowledging, “Oh, you really did it now — with a white woman who’s married? Are you nuts?”
But working with Stephen is such a joy. He’s so incredibly talented, and we were so dialed in and supportive of each other that day. We actually ended up having to reshoot it after the strikes, and it got even more dialed in and beautiful. I really enjoy the craft of exploring the human psyche through acting, especially in these dialogue scenes. It’s so much fun. There are so many ways to say something, even when you’re just in one place. It creates the best environment for good work.
You also have memorable dialogue at the beginning of the episode where Charlotte meets with Rose. How was it doing that scene alongside Kimberly Norris Guerrero?
Kimberly’s like a godmother or an auntie to me. We’ve become very close. She’s just an incredible woman, artist and teacher. We had fun. I think in that scene we had started to build a sisterhood, friendship, family thing. And I think we weren’t originally written to have that, so to build it was a joy.
As of Episode 4, Charlotte still hasn’t engaged in the paranormal elements of Derry, but is navigating the more grounded horrors of a small town in 1962 America. Do you think that she was developed partially to show that the show’s emphasis on racism is not just metaphorical?
I think it brings it into a very interesting focus. What could be more insidious than racism and people being killed for the color of their skin? Even when I met Barbara and Andy, I thought it was an interesting, complex way to go about depicting 1962 America Cold War racism. You’ve got so much more to do than just figure out who’s killing these kids, and the show considers scapegoatism, how society needs an enemy. Every society needs a person or a place or a thing to place the evil things that happen on something. So you have this extraterrestrial entity, but you also have the entity and energy of this weird human condition.
The show does a clever job of depicting Maine as different from Charlotte’s previous home in Louisiana, while still showing that the town is exclusionary. Did you study any of Maine’s Civil Rights history in anticipation of the role?
Well, the South is almost an easy scapegoat because of the nature of slavery and all, but the whole country is responsible. A lot of people were complicit in this reality. So, Maine, yes, is very far from Louisiana, but how far in consciousness from allowing and accepting this kind of thing? Also, I found it fascinating that the complicity and the turning of the cheek can sometimes be just as harmful as the overt hatred.
Have you had the chance to talk with Stephen King about this? Even though Charlotte isn’t his creation, the town’s racial history is very present in the book.
I unfortunately haven’t met Stephen yet, but I’m sure that’s in my near future, and I’d love to talk with him about it.
This interview has been edited and condensed.