Jeremy Allen White Says Iron Claw Gave Him An Appreciation For Wrestling’s Storytelling

Jeremy Allen White plays Kerry Von Erich in The Iron Claw, and he recently talked about how working on the film gave him a new appreciation for wrestling. White spoke at the premiere of the Von Erich biopic on Wednesday night about how working on the film allowed him to understand how deep the storytelling aspect of wrestling is.

“The athleticism in the sport is like, it’s like dance, gymnastics, combat sport,” White said (per Fightful). “It’s like so many things. What struck me in working with Chavo [Guerrero] and preparing was like, I was thinking about it in the sense of like, a choreographed fight scene where I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll hit the guy here, and I’ll drop kick here, and I’ll go off the rope here.’ I wasn’t thinking of it in the sense of a full performance, a full narrative, full storytelling. The moments in between these moves are oftentimes even more important for the audience than the moves themselves. That’s what gets people sucked in. That’s what gets people excited.”

He continued, “I remember, I’d have this routine, I’d be jumping up and down off the ropes and all the stuff I’d be exhausted, and then Chavo would say, ‘And then you have to like charge up!’ I was like, ‘Charge up? I want to breathe.’ He’s like, ‘No, you gotta be stomping!’ I think that was fascinating. Understanding the wrestling world in that broader aspect of the storytelling and these guys as real performers, outside of the obvious athleticism. They’re real artists, real performers, and real storytellers.”

The film is set to release on December 22nd.

(WATCH) Jeremy Allen White on what surprised him about the sport of wrestling while making #TheIronClaw pic.twitter.com/BBKvLVvs1C

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) November 9, 2023