Zac Efron Says Training To Play Kevin Von Erich Was ‘Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done’

In an interview with Access Hollywood, Zac Efron spoke about training to play Kevin Von Erich in the upcoming film The Iron Claw and how difficult it was to do so.

He said: “(When) you’re playing a real person and it’s a true story, there’s an extra bit of motivation to get things as honest and real as possible. And I knew that going into this after watching the footage of Kevin in the ring that the physicality was gonna be the hardest thing to get right. So I started training probably six months before and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

He also commented on the passing of Matthew Perry, who he worked with on the film 17 Again. He added: “Matthew’s been a mentor for me. I mean since we worked together on ’17 Again’ years ago, he taught me so much. I idolized that guy and the fact he’s gone now is devastating. But I did hear he was thinking of me for potentially playing him in the future and that’s the biggest honor one can have.”