Jeremy Allen White recalls a disastrous meeting for a “kind of a Marvel-y movie”

Last Updated on November 21, 2023

Jeremy Allen White’s career is seeing the temperature rise as his show, the acclaimed series The Bear, has been picked up for a third season on its network, FX. Additionally, the actor is receiving a bevy of praise for his upcoming film, The Iron Claw, which is a drama depicting the tragic story of the professional wrestling family, the Von Erichs. When young actors see their stars rise and many projects come across their trajectory, studios aim to capitalize on their growing stardom by featuring them in a big tentpole franchise. White once met with Venom‘s Riz Ahmed, who gained acclaim for his performance from The Night Of before becoming the symbiotic rogue of Tom Hardy’s comic book film. Ahmed would ask White, “When are you going to do a Marvel thing?”

According to Variety, White had actually met with executives for a major Hollywood tentpole film before. In an interview with GQ, the Bear star reflected on his meeting and how it went badly. “I had a meeting for a kind of Marvel-y movie, and I had an attitude. I think I played it all wrong.” White reportedly met with these executives for a franchise picture, and his skepticism curtailed his participation. He told the executives, “Tell me about why should I do your movie.” That didn’t land well with them. White recalled, “They were like, ‘Fuck you.’ And I was like, ‘Right on,’”

Additionally, White wonders why the path for many actors seems to aim for a “Marvel movie” for their apex mountain. He showed his curiosity of the superhero genre, “I am confused at how the pinnacle of an actor’s career has ended up in that place. They get really good filmmakers to do those movies and obviously they get really good actors to do those movies…I played it the way I wanted to play it.” He adds that he’s drawn more toward a “$25 million drama that I think most actors want to make” as opposed to big-budget franchise films.

Entertainment Weekly recently did a spread with the stars of The Iron Claw, where Zac Efron and White knew they had to be on point with their wrestling. “We have some pretty funny iPhone footage of us seeing our wrestling for the first time,” Efron says about the group’s early training days. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what it looks like,’” White says. “‘Got some work to do.’” White added, “Leading up to those wrestling sequences, that’s probably when I was feeling most insecure. It takes such confidence and skill to walk into a ring like that and perform.”