Ryan Nemeth worked with Zac Efron so he would understand wrestling psychology while they were making The Iron Claw.
The Iron Claw, Sean Durkin’s film about the Von Erich family, has generated plenty of buzz in the wrestling world. Chavo Guerrero worked on the movie behind the scenes, and he is also part of the cast. Likewise, Ryan Nemeth was cast as Gino Hernandez, but his wrestling expertise proved to be a valuable asset as well.
Speaking with Liam Crowley of ComicBook.com, Ryan Nemeth noted that he wanted to use his experience in the ring to help the cast, but he was nervous.
“I was a little nervous. I felt like I’m going to be competent here, but I don’t know how receptive the main cast will be,” Ryan Nemeth said. “I’m not going to come up in big league people, but of course I would be very helpful and all that.
“I walked into the gym and there’s a giant TV flat screen that was playing Von Erich tag team matches. I don’t know what exact match was on, but right in front of it was just in full gym gear and wrestling shoes was Zac Efron just watching it, his arms folded, rewinding and watching.”
Ryan Nemeth Talks Working With Zac Efron
Ryan Nemeth went on to discuss working with Zac Efron and director Sean Durkin. He noted that they asked him for his input. Nemeth also spoke highly of Zac Efron and Harris Dickinson.
“We ran it a few times and then Sean and Zac came over to me and they go, ‘Ryan, how would this go? This is a backstage locker room,” he said. “‘ How would you guys do this?’ I froze for a second, and then I realized they were really asking me and I was tiptoeing,” Nemeth said. “Then I thought, well, they want the answer, and I just said what would really happen. Then Zac was like, ‘Okay, let’s do that.’ That’s pretty cool. I am not a main character here, but they were just like, ‘You literally are a wrestler. How would you talk in this?’
“That happened a lot in the ring too. It’s tricky because there’s the main cast members and each of them has a stunt double. I did not have a stunt double, so I was doing all the stunts on my end. Most of my physical stuff in-ring was with Harris Dickinson, who along with Zac, was extremely natural in the ring and very athletically gifted. You couldn’t cast a better main cast of Von Erich brothers. These guys really took it seriously.”
The Iron Claw is now in theaters.
Chavo Guerrero recently discussed making The Iron Claw an authentic wrestling project. Check out his comments here.
