Zac Efron Talks ‘Jarring’ Transformation for ‘The Iron Claw’ – The Hollywood Reporter

Zac Efron attends the Los Angeles premiere of The Iron Claw on A24 on Monday night.

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Zac Efron is undergoing a radical transformation iron claw, Gaining pounds of muscle to become professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich; He also wears a shaggy wig for the role and often wears tiny wrestling shorts in the ring.

“In the best way possible, I didn’t look like me at all. It was jarring at first, but we kind of put it together piece by piece,” Efron said. Hollywood Reporter At the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Monday. “On an individual level, wigs themselves seem kind of silly; In and of themselves, the clothes look pretty crazy. When you put them all together in the sets that our team built and you step out into the ring under those lights, it’s like Von Erichs, man, and that was our goal. “I think it added a lot to it.”

The film follows the true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the highly competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Kevin is the last surviving brother – and was in attendance at the event – and Efron admitted he was nervous for his real-life counterpart to see the film for the first time.

“During the time I was shooting this movie, that was pretty much all I was thinking about. It’s something that you try to step back from a little bit, you’re just trying to do the work and get it done, but it’s always in the back of your mind, ‘What is Kevin really going to think about this?’ “Meeting him, spending time with him, having him here with us on the carpet, it’s so much fun, more fun than anything I’ve ever done in my entire life,” the star said. I’m so proud and honored that he’s a part of all of this. “It’s all because of him.”

Jeremy Allen White, who plays Von Erich’s brother Kerry, also admitted to being nervous about Kevin’s reaction, noting that writer-director Sean Durkin — a longtime wrestling fan — “made the decision to do this movie separate from them” and “we kind of… “Guessing” when it comes to conversations behind closed doors.

“I was really nervous, I just wanted it to be real. I wanted it to be love between brothers, and I think that was important to Kevin,” White said. “After Kevin saw that, he seemed really happy and he’s here tonight and I think that speaks volumes.” . I love the man.

White added that the relationship between the four actors — with Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simmons playing the other Von Erich brothers — and especially with Efron was “very easy” as “we bonded, kind of like trauma, by going into this.” A world we didn’t really know anything about and we’re all trying to learn together. He added that Efron was “a great champion for his team and a huge fan” throughout the entire process.

For his part, Dworkin said he “wanted to address these kind of trappings of masculinity and very toxic ideas about toughness and being a man and what those ideas are and how to break them.” It’s been a long time coming, as the director goes back to when the director watched the Von Erichs wrestle as a kid: “The highs and lows of their story really inspired me and haunted me and all of that. It’s stayed with me for most of my life. I’ve been thinking about this ever since “I was nine years old.”

Iron claw It hits theaters on December 22.

Tiffany Taylor contributed to this report.