If you’re a wrestling fan, chances are you’ve already heard Jeremy Allen White’s press conference comments about his newfound appreciation for the world of pro wrestlers. “The moments in between these moves are oftentimes more important for the audience than the moves themselves, that’s what gets people sucked in, that’s what gets people excited,” he said. And he’s right. White continued:
“And so then like your energy, like I’d have this routine. I’d be jumping up and down, off the ropes, and all that stuff, it’d be exhausting. And Chavo [Guerrero Jr.] would say, ‘And then you have to like charge up.’ Charge up? I’m like, ‘I wanna breathe first and catch my breath.’ He’s like, ‘No! You gotta be stomping, you gotta be…’ And I think that was fascinating, understanding I think the wrestling world, and that broader aspect of like the storytelling and these guys as real performers outside of the obvious like athleticism. They are real artists and real performers and real storytellers.”
Chavo Guerrero Jr. is not only himself from a legendary family of wrestlers but has also become one of Hollywood’s go-to wrestling trainers. Sean Durkin produced “The Rental” directed by Dave Franco, who is married to “GLOW” star Alison Brie. This bit of connective tissue helped Durkin get in touch with Guerrero Jr., who helped get the actors into fighting shape.
And while there were stunt doubles for some of the bigger moves, the majority of the film is on the actors. Choreography was centered around each of their strengths, and as Guerrero Jr. told Vanity Fair, he helped motivate the actors by reminding them “I can’t do every wrestling move, but I won’t do the ones I can’t do. I hide my weaknesses and I show my strengths — the same thing you do in acting. You’ve been convincing the studios that you’re better actors than you are, that you’re better-looking, that you’re taller than you actually are. That’s all I do in the ring.”