TV & Movies
Watch Zac Efron & The Iron Claw Cast Line Dance In The “Joyful” Wedding Scene
The cast showed off their Texas swagger.
Zac Efron’s dance skills are back in the spotlight. With The Iron Claw opening in theaters on Dec. 22, the film’s distributor, A24, shared a clip from the movie’s touching wedding scene featuring Efron line dancing alongside his co-stars Lily James, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons.
A Balancing Act
The sports biopic centers on pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich (Efron) and his family, telling a story steeped in tragedy. For writer and director Sean Durkin, having “beautiful, loving, fun moments” was necessary to balance out the more devastating parts, as he recently told Today.com. That’s what led him to have Kevin and his wife, Pam Adkisson (James), line dance to John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” alongside his brothers Kerry (White), David (Dickinson), and Mike (Simons).
“I wanted to have a really joyful wedding and I wanted it to be loose and pure,” Durkin said. “And then there’s this thing happening with David under the surface that’s coming (next), and I just wanted to have this very pure moment before things fall apart.”
And the line dance did give fans a scene to enjoy. “I love how in The Iron Claw they all did this dance at the wedding and then the movie ended and nothing else happened and everyone was fine,” one fan joked on X (formerly Twitter) in response to the clip. Another called it “the only happy moment in this movie.”
Dancing With The Stars
Fans on social media weighed in on The Iron Claw stars’ footwork and Texas swagger. Many people were happy to see Efron use the skills he honed in past roles such as the High School Musical movies, Hairspray, and The Greatest Showman. “zac efron is always gonna stand out in a dancing scene and thats [sic] just the everlasting kenny ortega impact,” one person tweeted, referencing HSM’s director. Others said that seeing him line dancing was enough to sell them on the film and called for him to be on Dancing With the Stars.
Meanwhile, one viewer wondered why they couldn’t see White’s footwork, asking if he’s “bad at dancing??” Someone else praised James because she “didn’t have to go so hard for this dancing scene but she did.” Others commended the “talented cast” in the TikTok comments and shared positive reviews of the film, including noting that they’re “still crying.”
Brothers, On & Off The Screen
The movie’s line dancing scene was one of many choreographed scenes in the film. As their “god-like” wrestler characters, they did “demanding” training with professionals, White said in the official first look video from A24. For Efron, “it didn’t feel like any other film [he’d] ever worked on before,” and White added that “there’s a brotherhood now” between them.
