Zac Efron: From High School Musical to The Iron Claw

Zac Efron's High School Musical Role Prepared Him For The Iron Claw

Believe it or not, Zac Efron's breakout role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical franchise actually helped him prepare for his dramatic role in The Iron Claw. In the new biographical sports drama, Efron plays professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich of the famous Von Erich brothers. The Iron Claw tells the true story of the Von Erich family and the many tragedies they endured during their rise to fame as professional wrestlers in the '80s. The Iron Claw reviews have been praising Efron's performance, generating Oscar buzz for the actor. In preparation for the role, Efron underwent a major physical transformation to play Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw. Naturally, the role also involved a lot of professional wrestling choreography and training, which Efron was already somewhat prepared for due to his past film experience.

Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich performing a flying kick in The Iron Claw.

How Zac Efron’s High School Musical Dance Background Helped Him With His Iron Claw Role While promoting The Iron Claw with his co-stars Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson in a video for BuzzFeed, Zac Efron was asked how his dance training prepared him for the wrestling choreography in The Iron Claw. Though he did theater as a child, which likely involved some choreography, Efron’s professional dance training started with his breakout role as Troy Bolton in High School Musical. Efron and the cast were trained by esteemed choreographer Kenny Ortega, who also directed the film. Ortega had previously choreographed for such films as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dirty Dancing, and Newsies. Efron returned as Troy Bolton for High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Both the sequel and threequel continued to up the ante for the dance sequences, and the choreography became a lot more intense, particularly for Efron. He was given more solo work with numbers like 'Bet on It' and 'Scream' and stayed front and center in group scenes like 'Work This Out' and 'A Night to Remember.' Efron explained how having experience 'dancing with other people that know how to do it a lot better' and the opportunity to 'focus and learn in a mirror' taught him a lot about his physicality. He noted that for himself and his Iron Claw co-stars, wrestling was like dancing, comparing it to 'a tango.' Allen-White added that, like dance, wrestling requires 'an understanding of your body in space.' Based on this response, Efron's dance-heavy role in High School Musical directly prepared him for his role as Kevin Von Erich by establishing the dance training and experience that helped him pick up the demanding wrestling choreography in The Iron Claw.

Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) holding a basketball in High School Musical.

Zac Efron Expanded His Dance Training In Other Movies After High School Musical Zac Efron's role in High School Musical wasn't the only professional dance experience he had before embodying Kevin Von Erich onscreen in The Iron Claw. The same year as High School Musical 2, Efron starred in the film adaptation of the musical version of Hairspray. As Link Larkin, one of the dance council members on The Corny Collins Show, Efron did a ton of up-tempo, jive-style dancing. He also starred in the movie musical The Greatest Showman, which involved intense dance choreography in a circus context as well as aerial acrobatics. Overall, these films expanded Efron's dance training, which ended up coming in handy in The Iron Claw.

Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) dressed as a ringleader in The Greatest Showman.