After spending over a decade playing Lip on Shameless, Jeremy Allen White has been expanding his horizons with new acting gigs. He’s currently ordering other chefs around in a chaotic kitchen as part one of the best Hulu original shows, The Bear. Now, he’s teaming up with Zac Efron for the new A24 movie The Iron Claw. Given that it’s a wrestling movie, he and the cast had to bulk up to play real-life entertainers, and it turns out the fandom surrounding White’s hit dramedy played a key role in that process.
The Iron Claw‘s Jeremy Allen White, Zac Efron, Stanley Simons and Harris Dickinson had to portray the members of the Von Erich family — the iconic wrestlers who rose to prominence during the ’70s and ’80s. So the actors definitely had their work cut out of them. When some of the cast got together for a feature interview with EW, Simons, who plays Mike Von Erich, spoke about a work perk that came courtesy of White and how it contributed to their prep for the movie:
Jeremy, thankfully, had just done The Bear. So, we’d go to restaurants and [the employees] would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Jeremy!’ and bring out a free dish. We were eating a lot.
Yes, Chef! The 32-year-old actor being recognizable as young Chicago chef “Carmy” helped the cast of the biopic score some major eats. It looks like the star has some major pull in restaurants. I’d imagine that was very invaluable, as the primary stars had to eat thousands of calories a day. Of course, co-star Zac Efron has gotten next-level ripped before, as he had to do so for his turn in Baywatch.
The rest of the cast, however, dreaded thinking about the diet they would be put through. Jeremy Allen White said he remembered just eating frozen turkey patties, avocados, protein shakes, waffles and almond butter. I sympathize with the Emmy nominee, as I personally wouldn’t be able to stomach so much, especially those patties. When talking about the “gross” struggles of bulking up, the Movie 43 alum said he didn’t feel good consuming so much food and that combining that with training was no way to live.
I find that so ironic, considering the New York native is surrounded by food so often due to his work on The Bear, which was just renewed for a third season. But then again, his character is preparing the chow more than he’s eating it. Still, White, was really impressed with the prep Zac Efron went through with training and dieting.
Working out and going out for meals together helped four actors form a bond with each other while working on the upcoming A24 movie. Stanley Simons said he was surprised at how quickly they all became friends. While they, of course, adhered to director Sean Durkin’s screenplay, the Australian actor said he liked that he and his three co-stars were free to improvise and “mess around as brothers.” Durkin would also witness the four stars hanging out at the river together or driving around when the cameras were off. With so much bromantic feelings between these talented leads, their on-screen dynamic as the Von Erichs should feel authentic.
If Jeremy Allen White’s The Bear fandom helped score him and the cast of The Iron Claw free meals, I wonder if he can continue to use this for future projects that require him to bulk up. If that’s the case, that’s one less preparation issue on his plate (figuratively). See how he and the rest of the cast’s training paid off in the 2023 new movie release , which hits theaters on December 22. You can also watch White on the aforementioned TV show using a Hulu subscription.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
