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Zac Efron Opens Up About His ‘Shocking’ Physical Transformation for ‘Iron Claw’

Zac Efron Opens Up About His ‘Shocking’ Physical Transformation for ‘Iron Claw’

By:

Samantha Whidden

While promoting his new film The Iron Claw, Zac Efron got candid about the physical training he had to do to prepare for his role as famous professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich.

While speaking to Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet of the film’s premiere, Efron chatted about the role. “This movie is a true story,” the actor explained. “And that man, Kevin Von Erich right there, he really motivated me to get in shape for this movie. The physicality he brought to the ring every single day was really unique. It changed wrestling.” 

To achieve the same level of intensity as Von Erich, Zac Efron then said he knew the training was really going to test him. “I knew that was going to be the hardest [thing] for me to master and get right,” he shared about the intensity. “So I put everything I had into it.” 

Efron also spoke about Von Erich’s reaction to the film. “He told me he was happy with it,” he declared. “So I’m stoked! I cried a little bit if I’m going to be completely honest.” 

Along with training, Zac Efron had to get a bowl-cut haircut to match the character. “It was shocking at every point of the transformation,” Efron further admitted about the haircut. “I remember Harris [Dickinson] and I were walking out of hair and make-up and it was like the first time we had to wear the full kit, and we were both thinking, ‘What the hell are we doing here, man? How did we get into this?’”

However, Efron further admitted the transformation ended up looking really good. He gave a shout-out to the hair and makeup team by calling it “epic.”

Zac Efron Recently Joked He Felt Like a ‘Stripper’ In ‘The Iron Claw’ Fight Scenes 

During an interview with Men’s Health, Zac Efron spoke about feeling like a stripper during fight scenes in The Iron Claw. 

“It was the very first time that I had to enter The Sportatorium in Kevin’s full costume,” Efron then recalled. “Which was just, frankly, a Speedo, or trunks. And everybody was out there, there was this huge crowd and the lights were on. I just remember in that moment thing, how the hell did I end up here? What is going on?”

Zac Efron also said it felt like Magic Mike when the crowd cheered for him in his shiny shorts. “n that moment I was frozen in time just going: This is it. This is the end. How did you get here? What choices have you made?”

The Iron Claw is based on the true story of the “inseparable” Von Erich brothers. The family members made history in professional wrestling in the 1980s. Also starring alongside Efron in the film are Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, and Holt McCallany. The film will be hitting theaters on December 22nd.