Jeremy Allen White has received much critical acclaim for his portrayal of Carmen Berzatto in the hit comedy series The Bear. The actor, however, seems to have developed a taste for prestige roles, as his next assignment is a biographical sports film based on the celebrated Von Erich Family.
For the role of Kerry Von Erich (originally Kerry Gene Adkisson), White was asked to bulk up significantly. This, however, would have been significantly more trouble for the actor, had he not starred in The Bear first. Speaking to EW, the actor detailed how The Bear helped him with his role in The Iron Claw.
Jeremy Allen White and his co-stars had to bulk up- a lot
White, along with Zac Efron and Harris Dickinson, sat together with Entertainment Weekly to talk about their experience on the set of The Iron Claw. In the sports biography film, White plays one of the brothers in the legendary wrestling family, the Von Erichs, along with his co-stars at the interview. This required all the actors to bulk up significantly to emulate the people that they were playing in the film. As the film revolves around the world of professional wrestling, the actors had to work out extensively and, of course, eat heavily to gain the mass to accurately portray their respective roles. Of all the things, White’s experience as The Bear alum came in handy more than what they would have anticipated.
White recalls the amount of food that he had to consume as a part of his diet (amounting to an odd 1000 calories). He says:
“I was just eating frozen turkey patties and avocados and protein shakes and waffles and almond butter,”
No doubt, the diet that had to be endured by the actors was brutal, including tons of protein and mass-building food. However, the actors deployed a secret ace up their sleeves to get more food than what they had paid for.
Jeremy Allen White got his fellow actors free food
Throughout shooting, the cast would go out for meals. This would usually result in them ordering a significant amount of food, given that each of them was on a strict diet to help them, gain muscle mass. Stanley Simons, playing the fourth protagonist of the film with the trio said:
“Jeremy, thankfully, had just done The Bear. So, we’d go to restaurants and [the employees] would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Jeremy!’ and bring out a free dish. We were eating a lot.”
White’s role in The Bear received a lot of praise from those who deal in the culinary world, pointing out the various realities that a chef of his character’s stature faces inside and outside the kitchen, and how a restaurant business is not all that it is cut out to be. However, the humor of the show seems to also have won over audiences, making food very cheap for the stars of The Iron Claw when they dined together with White.
