Ron Livingston shows off his Bill Murray-inspired Pennywise voice discussing failed audition for 'IT'

Everyone loved Bill Skarsgard's take on maniacal killer clown Pennywise in "IT," but director Andrés Muschietti went through dozens of actors to find him.

Names like Will Poulter, Kirk Acevedo and Tilda Swinton were all in discussion at some point in the production process and now we can add Ron Livingston to that list.

Speaking with Jim Norton and Sam Roberts, Livingston explained how he took the classic Stephen King character in a very different direction. 

"I had to self-tape that at home," Livingston said of his video audition. "The thing of it was I felt like I had to go for it because I feel like an idiot standing here being a scary clown unless I look like a scary clown. So I've got this video of me in my basement in clown makeup with a fright wig on doing the Pennywise scene."

Livingston was, of course, asked to do the voice. He obliged with what sounds like a creepier version of Carl Spackler, Bill Murray's gopher-hunting assistant greenskeeper in "Caddyshack."

"It had a little Bill Murray in it, you know," said Livingston. "It was just a pervy old man that was a predator. I'm sure they looked at it and were like, 'OK ... ' It was more in the realm of 'scary mime.' It was a little bit like 'scary mime clown' rather than 'scary Ringling Bros. clown.'"

Asked if he would ever consider releasing the footage himself, Livingston said there might be a legal snag.

"I think there's a trademark issue where you're not supposed to do that so I don't think I can."

[skip to approximately 27 minutes in]