Although Zac Efron started his acting career in the early 2000s with guest roles in TV series like ER, The Guardian, and Firefly, it took him years to gain prominence in the Hollywood entertainment industry. He became a teen idol for his starring as the leading character Troy Bolton opposite Vanessa Hudgens in the High School Musical trilogy, which was released between 2006 and 2008.

Over the years, Zac Efron has starred in many great projects such as The Greatest Showman and Baywatch. He was cast as the retired professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the upcoming movie The Iron Claw. One of his co-stars Jeremy Allen White recently revealed he did not want to stand close to Efron, and it was due to a rather hilarious reason.

Zac Efron in Baywatch
Zac Efron in Baywatch

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Jeremy Allen White Was Wary About Standing Next to Zac Efron

The Iron Claw, written and directed by Sean Durkin, follows the legacy of the Von Erich family from Texas. The family made history as a dynasty of professional wrestlers who were very famous in the 1980s and are credited for popularizing the iron claw professional wrestling hold (hence the name of the movie). However, tragedy struck, and soon, Kevin Von Erich, only one of the six brothers managed to survive past the age of 34.

Zac Efron in The Iron Claw
Zac Efron in The Iron Claw

Zac Efron along with Jeremy Allen White who portrays Kerry Von Erich and Harris Dickinson who portrays David Von Erich had to bulk up significantly to play the roles of the Von Erich brothers. So, Efron, Dickinson, and White had to work out a lot and also eat heaps of food.

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Compared to his other co-stars, Efron was much more bulked up and this led to Jeremy Allen White being scared of standing next to him. During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, White boldly confessed that he “didn’t want to stand near him (Zac Efron)” because of how huge Efron had become during the filming of the movie.

White then jokingly said that not standing next to Efron would be a problem because they were playing brothers. He also felt that the Down to Earth with Zac Efron star could beat up anybody which made it even more scarier.

Zac Efron Gave His Best to Playing the Role of Kevin Von Erich

A scene from The Iron Claw
A scene from The Iron Claw

Both Jeremy Allen White and Zac Efron put on muscle to portray their respective characters in The Iron Claw. However, Efron put on much more muscle than White to the point that the latter star was intimidated by him during the filming of the movie. This was not the first time Efron had gone through a physical transformation as he had already done it for Baywatch, which Dwayne Johnson found really impressive.

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For this role, Efron truly went to great lengths so that he could convincingly portray Kevin Von Erich (via PEOPLE) as during the New York City Q&A at the East Coast premiere of the movie, he said:

“I knew that going into it, physically relating to Kevin or being able to get into that shape, to do that, you have to become kind of obsessed. It takes over your life. That’s all you’re doing is eating, sleeping, training, and wrestling. That’s what they were doing in real life.”

Zac Efron also said that he had watched videos of Kevin’s performance in the ring so that he could mimic his style and choreography in his portrayal of the wrestler.

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