Zac Efron‘s performance in his new movie, The Iron Claw, might finally reverse the damage that a role from six years ago did to his career. A former teen actor, Efron’s breakout role was playing Troy Bolton in the hugely successful High School Musical franchise. Since then, Efron’s starred in many film roles. Some of Efron’s best movies were critically acclaimed gems or box office hits, while some of his worst were critical or commercial flops. Between the beauties and the bombs, his career has evened out for the most part.
Now, Efron is generating Oscar buzz for his latest film role. The Iron Claw tells the true story of Kevin Von Erich (Efron) and his family, following the Von Erich brothers’ rise to fame as professional wrestlers in the 1980s and the series of tragedies their family endured. Efron’s performance as the eldest Von Erich brother in the biographical sports drama has been praised by critics, and his name has been mentioned among predictions for Best Actor nominees at the 2024 Oscars. This response is especially exciting because it could finally erase the stain that one bad movie role put on Efron’s career six years ago.
The Iron Claw Is The Opposite Of Zac Efron’s Baywatch Reaction
The Oscar buzz surrounding Efron’s performance in The Iron Claw is well-deserved, and it’s also quite the turn-around from the response to his role in Baywatch. Efron played Matt Brody in the 2017 film adaptation of the original Baywatch series that ran from 1989-2001. Though it was a global box office success, the reviews for the Baywatch movie were overwhelmingly negative. The film “earned” five Razzie nominations in 2018, including a Razzie for Worst Actor for Efron’s performance in Baywatch. While a critical or financial flop is part of every star’s career, Baywatch was indeed a low point in the actor’s successful trajectory.
Zac Efron’s Wrestling Movie Has 1 Crucial Endorsement That All But Confirms It’ll Be Great
Zac Efron’s upcoming wrestling movie has been endorsed by one of the real-life people it portrays, which is great news for the long-awaited biopic.
Since then, Efron has starred in films like The Greatest Showman, as well as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, in which he played notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. He’s mostly “redeemed” himself from the Razzie situation, but the recent reaction to The Iron Claw is a reminder that Efron is a very talented actor who can deliver a potentially Oscar-worthy performance. Even the best actors have low points in their careers, but if Efron does get nominated for his performance in The Iron Claw, or better yet if he wins, it will likely be the beginning of a new chapter in his career.
Why Baywatch’s Failures Weren’t Zac Efron’s Fault
His performance may not have been the best work of his career, but Efron wasn’t the primary source of Baywatch’s negative response. The film had an unnecessarily long runtime, especially given much of it was filler as opposed to scenes with much substance. Intended to be an action-comedy, Baywatch didn’t produce enough laughs to succeed as a comedy and didn’t pack enough of a punch to succeed as an action movie. Despite its stacked cast including Efron, Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and more, nobody’s performances stood out. Overall, Baywatch had bigger issues than the now The Iron Claw star Efron or any one actor could have caused on their own.
