Bestselling fiction writer Stephen King — a.k.a. the King of Horror — has had many of his tales adapted for the big screen (Carrie, Cujo, Pet Cemetery, Children of the Corn, The Shawshank Redemption). So fans paid attention when King recently planted a fresh cinematic seed in the minds of his followers on BlueSky.
King wrote: “How about Mariska Hargitay kicking [expletive] in an R-rated Liam Neeson-style action picture?” He added, “I’d go see that.”
How about Mariska Hagitay kicking ass in an R-rated Liam Neeson-style action picture? I'd go see that.
— Stephen King (@stephenking.bsky.social) January 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The post received more than 19,000 likes and fans of both King and Hargitay — who plays NYPD Captain Olivia Benson on CBS’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — are going wild over the idea, leaving comments including “Get busy! Give us a screenplay!”
One fan replied with a “crossover” suggestion: “I would pay to see Benson arrest the Orange Clown. SVU should dramatize one of his trials.”
Note: Pennywise the Dancing Clown (see below) is the infamous orange-haired, white-faced clown from Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel It.
It’s my birthday and Pennywise showed up with a balloon
— Sean Travers (@seanjetravers.bsky.social) January 27, 2025 at 4:20 AM
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Other commenters, recognizing King’s longstanding and fervent anti-Trumpism, take the “Orange Clown” of the comments to mean the current President of the United States, especially given the reference to “one of his trials.”
Hargitay endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for President in 2024 — and was unbothered by “fans” she “lost” because of it, replying to one: “This is not an airport. No need to announce your departure.”
The post below, from Stephen King, is an example of how the horror master commonly expresses his opinions about Trump.
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While interpretations differ about which “orange” character is referred to, both options remain at large. Donald Trump, of course, again inhabits the White House and Pennywise plots a return also: Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu, John Wick: Chapter 4), who played Pennywise in the 2017 It and It Chapter Two 2019 movies, will reprise the role in the upcoming HBO series It: Welcome to Derry.
