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

Matt Grobar
·8 min read
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For 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.

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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. In the only interview he’s granted since the pic opened, the actor discusses the “immense courage” of Kevin Von Erich, why this film with which he left it “all on the field” is the one he’s “always wanted to make,” and the kinds of projects he’ll look to take on, after rekindling a fire within.

DEADLINE: How have you felt, seeing the response to your work in The Iron Claw, and to the film in general?

ZAC EFRON: Oh, I’m just overwhelmingly grateful for this whole experience. It’s rekindled a fire in me, and really, it just makes me feel incredibly grateful.

DEADLINE: People are talking about this as a career-best performance that shows a different side to your capabilities. Is that an opportunity you’ve been waiting for?

EFRON: I’ve always wanted, and I feel like maybe this is it, just the opportunity through a movie to leave something of value for the audience. I’ve got kind of a commitment to the audience to give them what this movie does, and that’s the ability to rethink and revitalize. This experience and hearing people’s words on the movie, it just means everything, man. It’s hard to put into words.

DEADLINE: What in this story did you connect most deeply with, when you were approached?

EFRON: It was really Kevin’s journey and the connection with this family. They suffer immense tragedy, and his ability to persevere through that and to hang on, and just to be relentless, I think that takes immense courage. There’s something about the story in the movie that can have a meaningful, measurable impact on how we view life, and that’s something that I’m just extremely grateful for, to be a part of an experience like that, in telling this story. I think this is the movie I’ve always wanted to make.

DEADLINE: You’ve spoken about yourself as a perfectionist when it comes to your work, and there’s certainly an element of that in the Von Erichs’ approach to their sport…

EFRON: Yes, and I could draw on that quality in Kevin. It was something that I could draw on for seven or eight months prior to putting any of this on camera. It was something I got to live and become, and in so many ways, it took the reigns of my life in a way that, it’s weird. It’s a part of this acting process that you just have to trust and go with, and it can be incredibly dark at times, and also on this side of it, can be incredibly gratifying.

DEADLINE: Through Kevin’s story, we get a pretty touching examination of what it means to be a man, as he grapples with the toxic understanding of masculinity imposed on him by his father. How did you relate to that facet of his experience? In what sense has contemplation of masculinity factored into your own life and work?

EFRON: It’s interesting because I think the definition of masculinity is always changing. It’s ever evolving, and this story drew on a specific type of masculinity that I felt I could identify with. It was something that, for some reason, was close to me. There’s been various times of my life, whether it’s for a role or even just for myself, where I’ve been driven to push my physicality to different inhuman proportions, and it’s taken a hold at times. I think being able to express and share how that happens, and what it feels like…I’m incredibly grateful for this story, for going to this area that is difficult to talk about, and something that I think is in the realm of what films have the responsibility to do. This is what movies should do, and I think we owe it to our audiences to explore topics like this, and leave them with something that they can think about and feel and experience. It truly is beautiful, how turning something that could be a negative into a movie can transform the experience.

DEADLINE: Tell us about the preparation behind your performance.

EFRON: Nothing could prepare me for the wrestling. [Laughs] The physical preparation and the training, that’s something that I’ve always found very interesting. I’ve always admired people’s transformations, in particular for movie roles. I just find that dedication fascinating and special when I see it. So in training for this, I got to train essentially for my championship, my belt match. It all came down to, how precise is my training? Ho dedicated am I to this? How hard can I push? I think I shed a skin somewhere in those seven months where Kevin was really at the wheel. It felt honest, it felt real. I felt like I was physically there; I felt mentally there, as a direct result of the training, and then from there, the wrestling, surprisingly, was fun. It, in many ways, built the bond that we had as brothers for the movie.

I guess most of the training and preparation for this movie was done alone. I didn’t really reach out to friends or family, and it was a very isolating process. But about a week or two before filming, when we got to wrestling, as soon as we got into that ring, I made real brothers. There was this sense of encouragement and camaraderie that I hadn’t felt in half a year, and I think it just generated a very sincere love and respect for these guys that weaves its way into the movie in the best way possible.

DEADLINE: There are few performers who can transform themselves for a role in the way that you can. What is it like, living that kind of life? I can’t imagine the work involved, and what it must be like to be constantly moving through such different physical states.

EFRON: It’s everything, man. It’s fun to be able to give your absolute all, to leave it all on the field for a project and a character, in honor of someone. This is a true story told through the lens of Sean Durkin, somebody that really has a vision and respect for the audience, and brings so much of himself to it. Those opportunities, they don’t come often in life, and when they do, it can push you to do extraordinary things.

I think the main thing I focus on is balance. It’s one thing when you’re in preparation for the role and becoming this person — there’s sort of a clear roadmap to follow, and it’s fun to get scientific and specific in those different routines and training modalities. That part’s fascinating, but when it’s over, I wish I could say that I am great at shedding the skin, or shedding it all very easily, that I can sort of just snap back to it. But to be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same after playing Kevin. It definitely changed me; I’m still coming back to Zac.

DEADLINE: Do you feel like you carry each of your characters with you, as you move through your life?

EFRON: The character will always live in me. Kevin, he’s now a piece of me, and I think I’m a piece of him.

DEADLINE: It must be surreal to have a real-life relationship with the person you’ve been playing, as you do now with Kevin.

EFRON: It’s definitely very meaningful. For months and months, I would say it was in the back of my mind, but really it was the first thing I thought about every morning and every night before I went to bed, is how is Kevin going to feel about this? Knowing he was ultimately going to going to experience the movie, sometimes it’s daunting. You can drive yourself crazy, overthinking it. There’s a part of you that has to just trust the process and believe in the work.

At the end of it, meeting Kevin, having the chance to sit down and spend one-on-one time sitting across from him, just the conversations that we’ve had and the things that he took away from the movie and felt inclined to tell me about, that’s one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had. There was something deep down in me that felt very proud and humbled that Kevin was receptive. This movie for him was all about the brothers, and he felt his brothers’ presence in the movie, and that’s everything.

DEADLINE: What are your hopes for the next stages of your career? You have a few films in the can, but is there anything specific you’re hoping to try as you move ahead?

EFRON: I think looking forward now, I’m just looking at every project with a fuller view. I’m looking for directors with a real story to tell, and a perspective, and a group around them that is as committed, [where] their commitment is as strong as mine to give the audience a reason to see the film. I’ll definitely be more selective, I think, in the best ways. This is why I’ve always wanted to make movies. I view it more as a responsibility now, and I think that’s just naturally going to make me more selective moving forward. And it does take a lot out of you. So, I think less is more in these moments. I’m going to prioritize taking care of myself enough to be able to give everything to the next adventure, to the next journey.

I really enjoy working with directors that have a vision and that can guide. I can’t pick a genre or a style of film that would be the most appealing next. I just know whatever one it’s going to be, and I love all of them, I just want it to feel real and authentic, and be able to commit wholly to it.

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