The Iron Clawdirector Sean Durkin on the hardest decisions he made in telling this story.
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This piece was originally published on December 15, 2023.
We are recirculating it now timed toThe Iron Clawsdigital release.
They captured title belts and morphed into syndicated TV superstars, becoming golden-haired Texas folk heroes in the process.
He receives not so much as an oblique mention in the movie.
It was the hardest decision I made, the director says over coffee at Venice, Californias Gjelina restaurant.
The movie just couldnt withstand another brothers death.
I dont want to say it was stopping the movie from happening but if Im honest, it was.
It took me a year to write it and take him out.
Extraneous plotlines were jettisoned.
The story needs to focus on Kevins survival, Durkin explains.
So everything has to be about Kevins journey.
You make tough choices.
Which means that you dont depict David being a father who loses a 1-year-old child.
Thats a tough choice to make when, on a human level, you feel connected.
You feel responsible for how youre depicting this family.
But there is just not room for that inthisstory.
I really believe that constraints lead to great creative choices, he continues.
Discipline and rigor: I thrive on those things and I embrace those things.
In some ways, they help simplify.
TheIron Claws genesis can be carbon dated back all the way to the directors childhood.
I had all these storylines and champions and I would have main events every few weeks.
It was my introduction to writing and storytelling.
I got very close to a lot of people in her life.
It got a bit messy and it was quite sad.
He adds: I knew exactly what movie I was making before I reached out.
The first thing he said to me was, Theres a lot of trash talk out there.
Theres a lot of gossip.
I was like, Were already on the same page.
Hes obviously known for his physicality, Durkin says.
But the core for me is, Kevin has a sincerity and purity.
I had seen that in Zacs work.
Meeting him, I just felt that right away.
(Im a particular snob about accents.
I was totally fooled to find out he was English and, obviously, an actor.)
None of the primary performers had set foot in a wrestling ring prior to shooting.
We didnt think about the stunts.
We didnt think about the wrestling, first and foremost.
We thought about the character and action and that guided everything, says Durkin.
Whenever I do a scene, I want to run it to completion from top to bottom.
And I dont shoot pickups.
So the wrestling had to be top to bottom.
These guys were wrestling full matches.
(Warning: Minor spoiler to follow.
I ask Durkin if he encountered any resistance including it inThe Iron Claw.
It was a hard sell, he admits.
Its the scene that got commented on the most times in the writing process and questioned the most.
This scene should not work, right?
Youve got a pretty grounded world, an emotionally honest look at family.
I wanted something heightened, a bit more other worldly, the director continues.
I wanted to visualize the purest sense of their connection.
The only direction I gave the guys was about the tenderness with which they touch each other.
I wanted them touching each others faces.
I wanted a mythical sense of crossing the river and leaving the coin.
Just to have that sort of love in its purest form.
Kevin sent me a text afterward, says Durkin.
Its quite extensive and personal.
Theyre really happy with it.
Its brought them together.
But Im not making it for their approval.
Im trying to do something truthful and I hope they love it.
But Im trying to tell the story how I see it, he says.
