A 15-year-old boy who grew up in the Birmingham suburbs is receiving critical attention for his star-making turn as part of the ensemble cast being terrorized by one of the more iconic cinematic monsters of the last decade.
Blake Cameron James has been acting ever since he was a student at Berry Middle School in Hoover, but it was not until this year that his profile considerably rose portraying Will Hanlon in the HBO series “IT: Welcome to Derry,” a spinoff of the horror series “IT” featuring the killer extraterrestrial clown, Pennywise.
Premiering on Oct. 26, “IT: Welcome to Derry” quickly became one of the most watched debut TV shows on HBO Max, with 5.7 million people watching the season premiere.
In the show, James plays Hanlon, a precocious student obsessed with science whose family moves to the fictional town of Derry in the 1960s, arriving in the midst of the prevailing fight for civil rights happening across the nation at the time. Hanlon quickly becomes part of the core group of children who start to recognize Pennywise’s presence as he begins to prey upon them.
Prior to “IT: Welcome to Derry,” James had appeared in commercials for brands like Kelloggs and AT&T before appearing in his first movie, “The Sound of Christmas,” on BET in 2022. He has since appeared in the NBC series “Found” and “We Grown Now,” which wont the Changemaker Award a the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023.
James returned to Birmingham on Tuesday, where Mayor Randall Woodfin awarded him a proclamation honoring his achievement in both film and TV.
“Let this proclamation stand as a celebration of your accomplishments and a reminder of the bright future that lies ahead for you and for youth talent across this city,” Woodfin said during the Birmingham City Council meeting Tuesday.
Accepting the honor, James thanked Woodfin and the council for the proclamation.
“I try my best to inspire each and everybody, not just kids, not just actors, but everybody, and I’m a living testimony that if I can do it, anybody can with God,” James said. “Thank you, guys, so much.”
“IT: Welcome to Derry” airs Sunday nights on HBO.
