“The Iron Claw” follows the Von Erich family, a dynasty of professional wrestlers who made history in the highly competitive sport in the early 1980s. The A24 drama, based on a true story, stars the Von Erich brothers Kevin (Zac Efron), David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (Stanley Simons). However, one brother was completely left out of the film: Chris Von Erich.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, “Iron Claw” filmmaker Sean Durkin explained why he decided not to include the youngest Von Erich, who also wrestled but had difficulty maintaining his success due to his asthma and brittle bone disease to reach brothers. He died by suicide in 1991 at the age of 21.
“There was a repeat and it was another tragedy that the movie couldn't really live up to,” Durkin said of a version that included all the brothers. “I honestly don’t know if it would have been done.”
The pro wrestling family was struck by a series of tragedies that became known as the “Von Erich Curse”: David died suddenly in 1984 at the age of 25, and both Mike and Kerry died by suicide in 1987 and 1993, respectively. These deaths are seen in “The Iron Claw” from the perspective of Kevin, the only surviving Von Erich brother.
“Chris was in the script for five years,” Durkin said, adding that removing Chris from the final cut was “an impossible decision” that he fought against for a while.
Durkin also decided not to contact Kevin until he had finished writing his script.
“When you're trying to make a movie, at some point you have to separate it and say, 'These are characters on a page, and this is a movie, and there's no way to fully capture the life of a person in a movie,'” Durkin explained. “You have to make difficult decisions to find something true, representative or emotional that captures the essence of the journey you want to tell within this family.”
“The Iron Claw” is currently in cinemas.