An Alabama teen actor who grew up in Hoover and is currently starring in a critically acclaimed HBO TV series based on a Stephen King novel was honored this week by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.

Blake Cameron James, 15, who left Berry Middle School in Hoover before he finished sixth grade in 2021 to pursue professional acting opportunities, appeared at the Birmingham City Council meeting on Tuesday to receive a proclamation from Woodfin.

James portrays one of the children terrorized by the scary clown Pennywise in “IT: Welcome to Derry,” which began airing on HBO last month as a weekly Sunday night series.

His breakthrough came as a lead actor in the movie “We Grown Now,” about children growing up in Cabrini Green, a dangerous Chicago housing project where one of their friends is

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