Zac Efron Shares First Look at Sean Durkin’s WWE Biopic ‘The Iron Claw’
Samantha Bergeson
Zac Efron has pushed his body to the limit once again.
After breaking the Internet with his “Baywatch” transformation, the “High School Musical” alum is in fighting shape for A24‘s wrestling biopic “The Iron Claw.” Efron stars as WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Von Erich, one of six brothers in a wrestling family.
“First Look at my latest project ‘Iron Claw’!” Efron captioned on Instagram. “Can’t wait to show you more…let’s go.”
“The Bear” breakout Jeremy Allen White co-stars as Efron’s onscreen brother, fellow wrestler Kerry Von Erich aka the Texas Tornado. Harris Dickinson (“Where the Crawdads Sing”) plays David Von Erich, with Holt McCallany (“Mindhunter”) as patriarch Fritz Von Erich.
Lily James and Maura Tierney also star.
Per an official synopsis, “The Iron Claw” charts the rise and fall of the Von Erich family, a dynasty of wrestlers who made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day.
“Martha Marcy May Marlene” helmer Sean Durkin writes and directs the film, with Tessa Ross, Derrin Schlesinger, and Harrison Huffman producing.
The real Von Erich praised Efron’s transformation to play him, calling it a “hard job” to be a wrestler onscreen. “It’s a lot of information, and a lot of time, and so, you know, they’ve got some tough work ahead of him,” Von Erich told TMZ. “But I saw a picture of the guy, he looked great. I don’t think I ever looked that good. I just saw this picture and he looks really good and muscular. He must really be working out hard. From the picture that they showed me at first, and the picture I saw the other day, he must really be working hard… My daughters love him, and so they think he’s the right guy to do it.”
Efron recently revealed that his “Baywatch” prep led to a “pretty bad depression” and insomnia back in 2017. “I had a really hard time re-centering,” Efron said. “Ultimately they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up.”
Efron continued, “For all the reasons I thought it would be incredible, I was just miserable. My body would not feel healthy; I just didn’t feel alive. I felt bogged down and slow…If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this work.”
Check out the first look below.
