Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White are extremely ’80s in first look
Get your mullet-bowl cuts ready this holiday season for the aggressively ‘80s-looking wrestling drama “The Iron Claw.”
The sports film, starring beefed-up versions of Zac Efron and “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White, has dropped its first official images and set a Dec. 22 release date.
Efron, White and fellow stars Harris Dickinson, from “Triangle of Sadness,” and Stanley Simons pose in the guise of the Von Erich brothers, members of a family that has been a household name in professional wrestling for nearly 60 years.
The Sean Durkin-directed movie will follow the hallowed wrestling dynasty and portray its rise and fall, while showing its lasting impact on the sport today. It will also explore the ongoing out-of-the-ring issues that have afflicted the group, a string of tragedies sometimes referred to as the “Von Erich curse.”
Portraying the Von Erichs are Efron as Kevin, White as Kerry, Dickinson as David and Simons as Mike, with Lily James as Kevin’s wife, Pam.
“The Iron Claw” is currently in post-production and is not expected to showcase at the fall film festivals.
White spoke of the physical preparation that came with portraying a peak-form athlete earlier this year with Esquire.
“[I was] eating all the time. Like, never stopping,” White said. “You’re trying to consume as much as you possibly can, and, to be honest, you don’t feel great. I was training as well, but, I don’t know, trying to get that big, it’s no way to live.”
He added that having Efron, who has experience in bulking up for roles, was helpful in modeling his approach to gaining mass.
“Zac’s a maniac. He’s so focused and knowledgeable on training, diet, all that,” he shared. “In terms of a physical transformation, I think he kind of blew us all out of the water.”