Zac Efron Left It “All On The Field” With ‘The Iron Claw’ & Was Transformed In The Process: “It’s Rekindled A Fire In Me” – The Deadline Interview
deadline.comFor Zac Efron, A24‘s The Iron Claw was the most challenging project in a career of more than two decades, but “in the best ways possible.” In the film from writer-director Sean Durkin, he chronicles the real-life rise to greatness, and journey through gobsmacking tragedy, of Kevin Von Erich, the eldest son in a family of wrestlers, which has made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day.
Or at least, the eldest still alive as this particular story begins. Following the drowning of firstborn Jack Jr. at the age of six, Kevin would step up as the gentle and loving leader of his siblings, working alongside brothers Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simons) to try to fulfill the impossible athletic expectations of their old-school, emotionally remote wrestler father, Fritz (Holt McCallany).
Then, supposedly as the result of the “Von Erich curse” long discussed as hovering over his family, he’s forced to watch as his siblings abruptly die off, one after the other, until he’s a brother no longer.
Efron has drawn his best reviews yet for his Iron Claw turn, which saw him pack on another well-placed 15 pounds of muscle to emulate the wrestler’s physique, at the same time presenting a visceral portrayal of Kevin’s descent into turmoil, as grief threatens to consume his entire life.
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