There was a lot of new terminology, and some physical cues, that the Hollywood part of the staff had to pick up from the wrestlers along the way.
The world of wrestling has a lot of vocabulary specific to the sport and its fandom — and apparently some of that wasn’t familiar to the cast of The Iron Claw before they started filming. Hollywood stars Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Stanely Simons told ComicBook.com that they had to learn the terminology as they went — and that sometimes they weren’t 100% sure what their collaborators were saying, especially when wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Jr. was deep in the weeds with the other wrestlers on set.
With a cast evenly divided between Hollywood veterans an wrestling stars, we have to imagine it was a fun, and sometimes strange, set to navigate. Efron, White, and Simons explained the process.
“Terminology was fascinating; the shorthand,” Efron said. “We had Chavo Guerrero as our coach for all the wrestling scenes, so he kind of just started talking in the lingo, and I remember looking at you guys, being like, ‘What’s he talking about?'”
White added, “And also how much they communicate physically, kind of like giving each other signals in the moment and stuff like that.” After Simons said that it was sometimes verbal cues, too, White agreed, saying, “…and even speaking and whispering to one another.”
“It’s such a team effort,” Efron explained. “Whatever side you’re on, being the aggressor, all of it is better when you’re really working closely together.”
“The idea of the babyface and the heel and all that stuff was new to me,” White said. “And how it was good versus evil, and how important that traditional storytelling and narrative is, and how it builds up those rivalries that really fuel the audience’s excitement about these matches.”
Here’s the official synopsis for The Iron Claw:
The Iron Claw will spotlight the Von Erichs’ dynasty within professional wrestling that began in the 1960s but will also tackle what has become known as the “Von Erich curse” outside of the ring. Beyond Efron and White’s starring roles, notable names like Lily James, Maura Tierney, and Holy McCallany will round out the supporting cast.
AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman will play Lance Von Erich. This is MJF’s feature film debut. Friedman filmed scenes for the movie in Fall 2022 and announced immediately after winning the AEW World Title at AEW Full Gear that he was flying to his “movie set,” resulting in him missing the following episode of AEW Dynamite.
Guerrero plays The Sheik in the wrestling drama. He is no stranger to wrestling and Hollywood crossovers, as he previously worked on the set of NBC’s Young Rock. AEW’s Ryan Nemeth plays Gino Hernandez. Nemeth is the younger brother of WWE’s Dolph Ziggler. Known as The Hollywood Hunk in AEW, Nemeth has had various small roles in films and television shows, most recently appearing on the latest season of I Think You Should Leave.
The movie is in theaters now.
