The Iron Claw director explains why he cast "amazing" Zac Efron
The tragic wrestling drama finds Efron in more dramatic territory than we're used to.
Although Zac Efron has had an extremely successful career – proving himself an enormously engaging performer in a range of musicals and comedies – he hasn't had too many opportunities to showcase his more serious dramatic acting chops.
But in Sean Durkin's new film The Iron Claw, the former High School Musical star gets the chance to do just that – playing the real-life wrestler Kevin Von Erich, whose family was beset by a string of unfathomable tragedies in the late '80s and early '90s.
His heartbreaking performance has been widely acclaimed by critics, and speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the film's UK release, Durkin explained why he thought Efron would be the perfect fit, even though it's a rather different role than we've seen from him in the past.
“Just in general, I just like watching him," he said. "I actually try to not cast people based on what they've done before. I look for like, something that I liked that they did, or something of an element maybe that they did that would apply.
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"But I'm always trying to get someone into something that no one else is putting them in. That doesn't happen with everybody, but that's what I'm often trying to do.
"So I cast Zac because I hadn't seen him in anything like it. And that was exciting to me, because I just love him as a performer, I think his comedy in particular is amazing."
Of course, Efron isn't the only big name to feature in the cast: he's joined by the likes of Lily James, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson, with the latter two playing two of Kevin's brothers, Kerry and David.
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Durkin – who has a background in casting – explained that it was of utmost importance to find actors who could match their energies to each other, especially when it came to creating a family bond.
"We started with Zac, knowing what he feels like, and then adding Harris [who] just has an ease about him, like a playful ease that I think, is a nice contrast to Kevin's more inner sort of quiet sweetness.
"And then casting Stanley [Simons] as Mike, finding someone with that real little brother energy, like youthful, fun, a bit funny, bit goofy, and then adding in Jeremy's intensity. It's just about that blend."
It also helped that the actors cast as the Von Erich brothers had plenty of time to get to know each other and form a connection during filming – with the first two weeks of production taking place at the Von Erich ranch set.
"I think that helps," Durkin added. "There was a lot of downtime in the field throwing a football or working out in the gym – the garage gym that's in the set was a real gym – and they would work out there.
"And just, like, sitting round the dinner table, they would just sit in for themselves while we were lighting and sort of talk, so you really felt the sense of family."
The Iron Claw will be released in UK cinemas on 9th February 2024. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
