The Strange Connection Between Arnold Schwarzenegger And The Iron Claw
One funny aspect of particularly huge athletes is just how small they can make the average person look. Most people don't think of Jimmy Fallon as short, for instance, but he sure looks tiny when he's standing next to Shaquille O'Neale. Even famously big, tough guys can still look small when you place an even bigger, tougher guy next to them, such as when Vin Diesel had to stand next to Dwayne Johnson in multiple "Fast and Furious" movies. Director Justin Lin tried to use forced perspective to make them look equally matched in "Fast & Furious 6," but it didn't fool anyone.
A similar dynamic played out in the '80s between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kerry Von Erich, the wrestler played by Jeremy Allen White in "The Iron Claw." Wrestling hall-of-famer Cody Rhodes told WWE the famously huge Schwarzenegger didn't want to take a picture with Von Erich because he knew he'd look unimpressive in comparison. That might sound like a petty concern, but image is everything to a rising star; when the thing you're most famous for is being outrageously buff and intimidating, posing next to an even bigger guy can understandably seem risky.
There is, however, at least one photo out there of the two celebrities standing next to each other. And while they're both wearing regular clothes not designed to show off their muscles, with the camera positioned up close to avoid making comparisons between their bodies, Von Erich does still come across as the beefier of the two. Of course, without a third person of a more typical height and build in the photo, it's a little harder to appreciate the sheer extent of just how muscular both of them are. Contrast is everything, and "The Ironic Claw" certainly seems aware of this.
Jeremy Allen White, a short king
Although White is a well-respected actor who's more than capable of handling the emotional material in "The Iron Claw," his height was one potential downside to casting him in the role. The real Kerry Von Erich was 6'2", whereas White is 5'7". White can capture Von Erich's demeanor perfectly well, but he'll simply never be able to make Schwarzenegger look small.
The movie's solution to this has been to fill the rest of the cast with actors who are also much shorter than their real-life counterparts. Zac Efron, who plays 6'2” Kevin Von Erich, is only 5'8". Harris Dickinson, who plays the 6'8" David Von Erich, is only 6'2". They also cast the 5'3" Maura Tierney as the family matriarch Doris; there's little official record on exactly how tall Doris was, but photos from the time place her in the 5'8" to 5'10" range. It seems like every actor in this movie is around six to seven inches shorter than their real-life counterparts; as long as no actual 6'8" actors show up on screen, this shouldn't be an issue.
The only major exception to the rule is Stanley Simons, a 6'2" actor who plays the 6'2" Mike Von Erich. How does "The Iron Claw" deal with 6'2" Simons and 5'7" White being in the same scene together, despite them playing brothers who are supposed to be the same height? It basically chooses to ignore this particular detail and simply establish that fictional Mike is a lot taller than fictional Kerry; it's a reasonable adaptive flourish, considering it's Kevin, Kerry, and David the movie focuses on most. Those three were the main iconic wrestling trio of the family; as long as the movie got their height differences correct, it was in the clear.