Zac Efron Bulks Up to Play Character in New Wrestling Film

Zac Efron is bulking up once again for his latest role, and the first pics are in.

The High School Musical star is stepping into the shoes of real-life pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the upcoming film The Iron Claw from A24. And as one might expect, Efron packed on a wrestler’s physique to take on the challenge.

The film centers around the rise and fall of the Von Erich family, a dynasty of wrestlers originating from Texas who had a major impact on the sport but who were also plagued by tragedy. Five of the six sons in the family died young, with only Kevin surviving past his 30s.

Jeremy Allen White, Lily James, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, and Holt McCallany are also starring in the film, which is written and directed by Sean Durkin.

Efron has previously spoken out about how his bulking up for another role set expectations he found to be unrealistic.

“That Baywatch look, I don’t know if that’s really attainable,” he told Men’s Health earlier this year. “There’s just too little water in the skin. Like, it’s fake; it looks CGI’d. And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve.”

He added that he wasn’t doing that as part of his bulking up for this role, saying he prefers “to have an extra, you know, 2 to 3 percent body fat.”

We’ll get to see more of Efron’s Iron Claw bod when the movie is released, which will likely be sometime in 2023.

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