Zac Efron Unrecognizable as Kevin Von Erich in 'Iron Claw'

When imagining Zac Efron, it’s easy to picture the boyish face from 17 Again and High School Musical. Believe it or not, though, those films are a shocking 14 and 17 years old, respectively. And the former Disney star no longer looks anything like a high school student.

In the promotional content for his upcoming film Iron Claw, Zac Efron debuted a new look – and fans of the teen heartthrob are shocked. The 36-year-old looks completely unrecognizable as professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich!

‘THE IRON CLAW’ stars Harris Dickinson, Zac Efron, and Jeremy Allen White photographed by Beau Grealy for Entertainment Weekly

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Iron Claw, the A24 biopic, follows the Von Erichs, a professional wrestling family who found enormous success in the ’80s. Though the film is centered around Zac Efron’s Kevin Von Erich, it also stars Jeremy Allen White as Kerry Von Erich and Harris Dickison as David Von Erich.

As one might expect, as ’80s professional wrestlers, the Von Erichs had a very specific look – one that Zac Efron admitted wasn’t easy to obtain. While training to appear as believable (and gigantic) athletes, the actors ate thousands upon thousands of calories per day. Then, of course, there was the in-ring training.

Efron told Entertainment Weekly he “was blown away on the first day that [they] came to work. You were jumping off ropes and doing huge hits.”

Zac Efron and His ‘Iron Claw’ Costars Want to Try Real Professional Wrestling

Zac Efron and his Iron Claw costars took plenty of bumps while filming the professional wrestling biopic. But there’s a difference between doing so on a movie set and doing it in front of thousands of screaming fans. The actors hope to give the latter a try.

“Oh, I would jump in,” Jeremy Allen White gushed to EW. “I would love to,” added Harris Dickinson. “Do you remember at the end of the shoot? We were like, ‘Should we try and do this for real?’”

“We went to [director Sean Durkin] and were like, ‘Sean, call them! Tell them we’re ready!’” White said. “Yeah, call WWE! Say we’re going to do it!” Efron chimed in.

All three actors put some serious work into their physiques ahead of filming. The Von Erichs, after all, were all billed well over 6 feet in height and 200 pounds in weight. According to the actors, though, no one did it quite like Zac Efron.

“Zac’s a maniac,” White said. “He’s so focused and knowledgeable on training, diet, all that.”

“In terms of a physical transformation, I think he kind of blew us all out of the water,” Dickinson agreed. “He looks really amazing in this thing.”

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