The Iron Claw tells the heartbreaking story of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, but the heavy subject matter didn’t stop the cast from having fun on set.
According to costume designer Jennifer Starzyk, the room went “ballistic” the first day that Zac Efron filmed a wrestling match in character as Kevin Von Erich. “You would have thought it was really happening,” Staryzyk exclusively told Us Weekly. “That dynamic sense of electrified energy, everybody just was in. You were just, like, in it and really absorbed in the process.”
Starzyk thinks that’s one reason that Efron and his costars Jeremy Allen White (Kerry Von Erich) and Harris Dickinson (David Von Erich) weren’t too nervous about baring nearly all in their skimpy wrestling trunks. “They all might say they kind of were reluctant, but truthfully, everybody came in looking amazing,” she told Us. “It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t look amazing anyhow. They’re such great actors, but I never got that sense [that they were nervous] at all.”
It also helped that the wrestling trunks in question are much sturdier than they might look on the big screen. “If you properly make the trunks, they’re triple-lined,” she explained. “They’re very thick and very comfortable. They have a drawstring on top of the elastic, so it’s made to perform. So, it’s not an issue there. Everybody just got used to it — and they were all dressed alike. It wasn’t like one guy was kind of naked and nobody else was.”
While Starzyk had a blast diving into archival footage of the real Von Erich family as she designed the characters’ ring robes, she also made sure that Efron, 36, and his costars looked great for scenes set outside the Sportatorium (the Dallas, Texas, arena where the Von Erichs wrestled in the 1970s and ’80s).
“Zac’s character is called the Golden Warrior. His vibe is, like, all-American jock,” Starzyk explained. “He was the neutral brother. I made sure I used a color palette of grays and blacks and blues, something more substantial because he was the grounded brother.”
For Dickinson’s character, David, Starzyk looked to the brothers’ home state for inspiration. “David Von Erich is known as the Yellow Rose of Texas, and he was definitely the most western, a little bit rock ’n’ roll, a little bit country,” she told Us, noting that she pulled leather vests and blazers for Dickinson, 27, to wear out of the ring. “He always wore snakeskin boots. Stetson helped us recreate a hat from the 1980s which had a little bit of a different crown than you can buy today, because the man at Stetson who works with film was also a Von Erich fan and grew up in Texas.”
White’s character, Kerry, was “the rock star” of the family. “He always looked very ’80s,” Starzyk said, adding that the Bear actor, 32, grew his hair out for the role while his costars wore wigs. “We used the color palette of those poppier ’80s colors like teals and turquoises and purples and things. If there was an ’80s pattern, acid-wash jeans, he wore that. And his ring robe was a tiny little shorty robe that barely covered his bottom. Jeremy was like, ‘A little longer.’ I’m like, ‘No, a little shorter,’ and so it kept going.”
The robes and the trunks weren’t the biggest hit in the costume department, though — that honor goes to the brothers’ footwear. “Everybody got really, really into cowboy boots, because cowboy boots are fun to wear,” Starzyk told Us. “Jeremy Allen White would come into the trailer and be like, ‘I just need the white cowboy boots.’”
Dickinson, meanwhile, was a huge fan of the vintage wedding suit he wore for the scene where Kevin marries Pamela (Lily James). Those suits were purchased from an ex-firefighter who now collects vintage tuxedos after he helped rescue a burning building that was full of old clothing.
“He was like, ‘I think I really want this. I think I need to wear this,’” Starzyk recalled Dickinson saying. By the time Starzyk had gotten approval for Dickinson to keep the outfit, it was his last day of shooting, and he was leaving the set to fly to London. “He’d come to the set with his suitcase,” Starzyk said. “And he was like, ‘I can’t fit it in!’ So, that was really cute.”
The Iron Claw is in theaters now.
