Meet The Cast Of The Iron Claw
Dec 1, 2023
THE IRON CLAW opens December 22
The story of the Von Erich Family is one of the most tragic in the history of professional athletics – especially in regards to the sport of wrestling. Their legacy is about to be immortalized on the big screen in THE IRON CLAW – an upcoming drama from A24 that is written and directed by Sean Durkin.
The biopic – which will be released in AMC Theatres on December 22, 2023 – boasts a star-studded ensemble portraying these truly larger than life athletes. Allow us to show you who plays who in THE IRON CLAW cast, along with a reminder what other titles they are known for, with the following guide below.
Leading THE IRON CLAW cast as one-time WCWA World Heavyweight Championship holder and eldest Von Erich brother, Kevin, is Zac Efron. The actor’s last A24 movie appearance was a brief role in 2017’s THE DISASTER ARTIST, opposite his co-stars from the NEIGHBORS movies, Seth Rogen and Dave Franco. In addition to leading more comedies like 17 AGAIN from 2009, the 2017 BAYWATCH reboot, and MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES with Adam Devine, the actor has also been a strong presence in other ensemble dramas like 2013’s PARKLAND and THE PAPERBOY and also led a few biopics, such as EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE as Ted Bundy and THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER for Apple TV, to name a few. Of course, he would not have the career he has without playing Troy Bolton in Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL franchise.
As Kerry Von Erich – whose tremendous wrestling career was almost completely derailed by a devastating motorcycle accident – we have Jeremy Allen White. The actor is best known from the small screen as part of Showtime’s “Shameless” cast (as Lip Gallagher) and, more recently, his Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning performance as the lead of FX’s culinary dramedy, “The Bear.” Highlights of his cinematic filmography include Antonio Campos’ 2008 coming-of-age drama AFTERSCHOOL, 2018’s romantic dramedy AFTER EVERYTHING, the 2020 horror film THE RENTAL (which Sean Durkin also produced), and, also in 2023, the sci-fi romance, FINGERNAILS, opposite Jessie Buckley.
Playing David Von Erich – who wrestled alongside Kevin and Kerry in tag-team matches – is Harrison Dickinson, who previously played a real person in the FX miniseries “Trust” (as J. Paul Getty III) and in 2022’s comical whodunit SEE HOW THEY RUN (as a fictionalized version of Richard Attenborough, circa 1953). The English actor made his breakthrough in the 2017 indie drama BEACH RATS, which led to him starring in more mainstream films like Disney’s MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL, 2021’s THE KING’S MAN, and the Daisy Edgar-Jones-led book adaptation WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. Dickinson also had major parts in the coming-of-age sci-fi thriller THE DARKEST MINDS, another A24 drama called THE SOUVENIR: PART II, and the star-studded, OscarⓇ-nominated satire TRIANGLE OF SADNESS.
THE IRON CLAW is the third feature-length film to star Stanley Simons, who plays one of the younger Von Erich brothers, Mike, who would get in the ring too, but also had a passion for music. The Australian actor’s previous films are the 2019 romance ANGELFISH and a thriller from 2021 called SUPERIOR. Some may also recognize Simons from The CW’s anthology horror TV show, “Two Sentence Horror Stories” or his guest spot on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in 2019.
The Von Erich Family matriarch, Doris Von Erich, is played by Maura Tierney, who recently played real-life children’s book illustrator Karen Barbour in Amazon’s BEAUTIFUL BOY from 2018 and once played herself in the 2006 comedy DANNY ROANE: FIRST TIME DIRECTOR. Her most notable previous movie credits include the Oscar-nominated courtroom drama PRIMAL FEAR, the Jim Carrey-led courtroom comedy LIAR LIAR, and Christopher Nolan’s intense crime thriller INSOMNIA, and Amazon’s 2019 political drama, THE REPORT. Tierney also has two Emmy nominations to her name – one for long-running medical drama “ER,” and another for Showtime’s “The Affair” – and is also well-known for starring on the beloved sitcom, “NewsRadio.”
The patriarch of the Von Erich clan, former wrestler-turned-wrestling promoter Fritz Von Erich, is played by Holt McCallany, who previously led a short-lived FX TV show about another challenging sport – boxing, in this case – called “Lights Out.” One of his better known TV roles is FBI agent Bill Tench on the Netflix crime drama “Mindhunter,” which is his more recent collaboration with David Fincher, following his roles in 1999’s FIGHT CLUB and Fincher’s 1992 feature-length directorial debut, ALIEN 3. Some of McCallany’s other fact-based film credits include 2013’s GANGSTER SQUAD, CONCUSSION in 2015, and SULLY from the following year, and audiences may also recognize him from director Michael Mann’s BLACKHAT, a small uncredited role in 2017’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, and Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-nominated noir, NIGHTMARE ALLEY.
Before playing Kevin Von Erich’s wife, Pam Adkisson, in THE IRON CLAW, Lily James received an Emmy nomination for playing Pamela Anderson in Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” and, years earlier, portrayed Winston Churchill’s secretary, Elizabeth Layton, in DARKEST HOUR. Some of her better-known cinematic acting roles include the title character of Disney’s live-action CINDERELLA remake, and Debora in BABY DRIVER.
See these talented actors bring the Von Erichs to the big screen when THE IRON CLAW opens in an AMC Theatre location near you!
THE IRON CLAW opens December 22
