The Iron Claw features one of the best ensembles of the year as it explores the heartbreaking loss the Von Erich family suffers on their way to achieve their father’s dreams. Harris Dickinson stars in the film as David Von Erich, one of the brothers. He spoke with us about the prep for the film, bonding with his co-stars, Little Women, and more.

Kenzie Vanunu: Hi Harris! I’m so excited to speak with you, I’ve just been a huge fan of yours since Beach Rats! Congratulations on such a great year but especially The Iron Claw. One of my favorite films of the year.
Harris Dickinson: Aw, thank you!

Kenzie Vanunu: I’m actually from outside Dallas, so first, just wanted to say your accent work was fantastic. I was instantly thinking of so many guys I went to high school with.
Harris Dickinson: Oh, that’s so great. Thank you, really.

Kenzie Vanunu: But so, I grew up with the story of the Von Erich family, were you familiar with their story and wrestling before the project came to you?
Harris Dickinson: I’d seen Dark Side of the Ring, the documentary and then I was a big fan of wrestling as a kid. And so I kind of had an awareness but not as in depth Sean [Durkin].

Kenzie Vanunu: That’s great. The film to me is a story about not only resilience, but the bond of brothers and power of your family’s love. You and the rest of the cast had such a palpable chemistry, I really felt the bond between y’all. How did y’all prep ahead of filming to create such a visible bond?
Harris Dickinson: Yeah, I mean, it kind of happened pretty easily. If I’m honest with you like that. We got really lucky. Susan Shopmaker, who cast the film, obviously, she just had a sense that we would all work together and Sean created a really nice environment. And yeah, we think wrestling together and learning to wrestle together provided a really good space for us to be kind of like humiliated together, and share that bond experience. But yeah, we were lucky.

Kenzie Vanunu: The way you portrayed David is just so layered and very tender. You convey so much through just your expressions and body language. He felt like constantly battling with how to support his brothers but please his father just through the look in his eyes. Was this something you worked on with Sean?
Harris Dickinson: Thank you. It’s nice of you to say. Yeah, I mean, it was it was there in the writing. And I think also Sean made it pretty clear in some of our early conversations that David had a confidence, but he was also really gentle. And he sort of care deeply about the family. And I think that because there was a sort of a competence there. There was also this ease with him. And so I just wanted to try and find that.

Kenzie Vanunu: You definitely did, it was so great. I have to ask about the wigs and costumes. Wish I had some of those jackets for myself. Did you feel a full transformation as you got into the look for David? 
Harris Dickinson: Yeah, definitely, there was definitely was a real flair with a lot of the costumes, it was clear that the boys weren’t afraid to go out with the sequined jackets, and the hats and the sort of yellows, hot pants. And I think that made me very frightened at first because you the idea of going out into the ring. And that is like, ‘Whoa, this is not sort of comfortable.’ But you do you do get into it, and all of a sudden become very relaxed in it and somehow feel like this is just what you were meant to be doing.

Kenzie Vanunu: The performance side of wrestling is something I think must be hard to understand before you’re actually in the ring. I actually spoke to Sean earlier this morning about this, but the movie kind of reminded me a little bit of Little Women, in a way of like the bond of siblings, and then sort of the implications of the way society puts like forced pressures on people.
Harris Dickinson: Oh! Yeah, yeah!
Kenzie Vanunu: Like in Little Women, it was more of the way society looks at women and their place in the world. And with this, it’s kind of the way society views masculinity. I was thinking about the way that society kind of looks at men and just like the ending of this film, of the way that family can really unite people. When you were reading the script, is that something you picked up on just the way that Sean really guides the story through this lens of society’s view of masculinity?
Harris Dickinson: Yeah, 100% it was very clear to me that Sean’s perspective on this film was far more in depth than just sort of physical wrestling and competition. It was clear that he was trying to sort of comment on the difficulty these guys had and articulating their emotions and speaking up about the sort of mental limits. And I think that the love and support they have for one another is definitely there. And we wanted to show that and that was always something that Kevin [Von Erich] made clear to show that that was always there. But I think the time and the circumstance in the area was just very limiting in terms of like, discussion and support in certain kinds of support. So Sean had that in his sights throughout and it was kind of clear to us what what film we’re making so amazing.

Kenzie Vanunu: I definitely like called my siblings right after the movie. Like I was like, ‘I love you guys, don’t ever forget that.’
Harris Dickinson: Same! Same, I did exactly the same. It’s really emotional.

Kenzie Vanunu: Yeah, it’s a really heartbreaking film. What was the prep like getting ready, just not only for the wrestling, but just the emotional side of the story? I’m sure it was a grueling process.
Harris Dickinson: Yeah, I mean, I think like, biggest thing for me was just trying to find who David was. Trying to find the accent, the physicality obviously, he was an imposing man. He was a very large sort of confident, Texan. He was you know, very tall, very Texan boy and I’m not that, so I just took a lot of time trying to find that with an accent coach and figuring out the movement, physicality, then the wrestling training, so yeah, I mean, I was sort of prepping mentally for it to be about five months before and then I got about a month to do the physical stuff, which I would have liked a bit longer, but yeah.

Kenzie Vanunu: Well, you did such a great job. It’s one of my favorite performances of the year. It’s just so tender, and it’s really special. And it’s really stayed with me. I’m going home to Dallas for the holidays and all of my family’s like, ‘We have to go see The Iron Claw,’ so I’m excited to share it with them. But thank you for speaking with me today. I’m really honored to speak with you. I’m so excited for everything coming next year for you, too.
Harris Dickinson: Aw, thank you so much. That’s very sweet.

Kenzie Vanunu: Thank you for speaking with me! Merry Christmas!
Harris Dickinson: Merry Christmas!

The Iron Claw opens in theaters December 22, 2023.
You can find our review of the film here.