Zac Efron's Comeback: The Iron Claw
Zac Efron's return to a dramatic role in the sports biopic, The Iron Claw, marks a significant milestone in the actor's career. After a string of successes in musicals and comedies, Efron's portrayal of Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw is earning him critical acclaim and awards buzz. This article explores Efron's journey from teen heartthrob to serious actor, and how The Iron Claw is delivering on his potential.
The Iron Claw: Fulfilling a Long-Awaited Project
Zac Efron's big 2023 movie, The Iron Claw, is finally giving audiences a fulfilling project first teased with a role in 2019. The Iron Claw is a true story based on the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers and the tragedies that plagued them in the '80s and '90s. Efron has a starring role as Kevin Von Erich alongside other notable actors, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson, playing his brothers, Kerry and David, respectively. In addition to being Efron's first sports biopic, The Iron Claw marks his return to a dark, dramatic role for the first time in four years.
The Iron Claw: Fulfilling a Long-Awaited Project
After starring as Troy Bolton in High School Musical, Efron's first significant movie casting came in 2007's Hairspray. With his massive Disney popularity, Efron became a prominent figure in teen comedies and rom-coms until he started to tackle more serious roles in movies like At Any Price, The Paperboy, and Parkland before falling back into comedies with hits like Neighbors and Dirty Grandpa. Efron returned to the world of musicals in 2017 with The Greatest Showman, a movie that made up for the disappointing Baywatch release earlier that year. His next standout role was more noteworthy, and The Iron Claw is paying off its missed potential.
The Von Erichs brothers in The Iron Claw poster
The Iron Claw: Delivering on Zac Efron's Potential
In 2019, Zac Efron starred in two movies: the stoner comedy Beach Bum and Netflix's Ted Bundy biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. The latter of which was intriguing as it featured Efron embodying the role of the infamous serial killer, a type of figure that the actor wasn't known to play. While his performance as the killer was praised, the Ted Bundy movie didn't fully utilize Efron's potential. The Iron Claw, on the other hand, is getting rave reviews, with Efron's work as Kevin Von Erich being singled out for awards buzz.
After teasing Efron's capability of handling a dark biopic or drama in 2019's Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, The Iron Claw fully delivers on what the Ted Bundy true story role initially promised. Efron may have been a positive aspect of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, but the movie itself received a mixed response from critics and viewers, who took issue with the movie's sensationalizing of the murders and overly diluted narrative. Conversely, the intrigue of Kevin Von Erich and the tragic curse surrounding the wrestling family not only sounds like a moving project, but the reviews are backing up the high expectations.
Zac Efron's Career Trajectory: From Drama to Comedy and Back
Even though The Iron Claw will further prove that Zac Efron has a future in dramas, the actor will return to the comedy genre in 2024. His next project to be released will be Netflix's A Family Affair, a romantic comedy featuring Efron playing a movie star who falls for his assistant's mother. In addition to that project, Efron will appear alongside John Cena in the fantasy comedy Ricky Stanicky and star in Disney's Three Men and a Baby remake. Still, The Iron Claw will undoubtedly have a positive impact on Efron's career. While awards would be a bonus, his remarkable performance could still be a career game-changer.
