Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Allen White are an unlikely pair.
At their first appearance together on British soil, the legendary singer and Hollywood star discussed the ins and outs of their new partnership in the lead-up to the cinematic release of Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Held at the Spotify Headquarters in London, Springsteen’s top Spotify fans were invited to hear The Bear actor in conversation with a “very special guest”, though there was little doubt over who that would be. Over Bruce-themed snacks and cocktails, fans were slowly ushered into the staged area where, eventually, the public figures would sit before us, cool, collected, happy.
Over the course of the 45-minute conversation, ‘The Boss’ touched on many things; after all, having one’s childhood remodelled and resurrected before one’s very eyes is bound to evoke much nostalgia and introspection, two things at the heart of Springsteen’s penmanship.
The upcoming movie doesn’t attempt to explore the full story of Springsteen’s career over the course of two hours. Instead, it focuses on one enthralling chapter as Bruce was grappling with being heralded as the voice of his generation despite struggling with a range of personal issues.
At this juncture, Springsteen opted against making an expensive record in a world-class studio, and instead created the seminal Nebraska by himself in his bedroom in New Jersey, which is chronicled in Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Far Out were in that exclusive audience in London, and below are the top five things we learnt from the source itself.
Why Bruce Springsteen agreed to the biopic
Springsteen is ready to throw caution to the wind. The 76-year-old rocker has a whole host of accolades under his arm: 20 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When you’re used to such prestige, what’s next?
For Springsteen, the experience of an industry pivoting slowly away from him isn’t a cause for alarm. It’s an excuse for freedom. To much laughter from the doting crowd, Springsteen mused on stage, “I figured, I’m 76 years old, I don’t really care what the fuck I do anymore.”
Inevitably, this outlook allowed the performer to choose a different type of path, one where the road was less defined. “As you get older… You take more risks in your work and in life in general,” he shared, adding, “Scott Cooper had a really good grasp of the kind of film I’d be interested in… not a standard musical biopic, but a character-driven drama with music.”
White admitted that becoming Bruce was “intimidating”
White had his big break while playing a juvenile delinquent in the comedy-drama series Shameless. This is worlds away from capturing the likeness of The Boss, and White often mentioned feeling a little out of his depth on set. He recalled being asked to take the leading role: “Very early on, Scott Cooper said, ‘I want you to sing and play guitar.’ I said, ‘I don’t do those things, are you sure?’”
To ensure he had the best weapons in his artillery, White revealed that he had been “calling folks to help me – talented folks to help me with all that work,” though he was careful not to name names. Still, no amount of famous friends could ease the anxiety. White had to tackle that himself. He shared, “At first, singing Bruce’s songs was intimidating. But I found confidence in the booth… that was the first time I really felt close to Bruce.”
Why the world is a Springsteen concert
Springsteen hasn’t just recently been in the headlines for the upcoming biopic. This year, ‘The Boss’ and the President of the United States were in a ferocious feud. Their public feuding match kicked up a notch at the beginning of this summer during Springsteen’s UK and European dates in May and June, where he branded the US administration as “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
Trump hit back, calling the classic singer “dumb as a rock” and even threatening Springsteen on Truth Social: “This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’”
Though Springsteen didn’t reference this explicitly, he did discuss the importance of community, connection, and world-building at his shows, which veer into the political. “You create an ideal world for three hours,” he mused. “Not a fantasy world—but a credible one. It has all the wonderful and terrible parts of life. The show’s a combination of a circus, a dance party, a political rally, a Sunday morning spiritual revival.”
The importance of Jeremy Strong on set
In the movie, Succession actor Jeremy Strong plays Jon Landau, a music critic who became Springsteen’s manager and co-producer after a review that deemed ‘The Boss’ to be the “rock and roll future.” A little older and wiser in a cut-throat industry, White revealed how his relationship with Strong flourished in the harder times.
He shared, “Jeremy Strong became a protector to me during filming. He saw the pressure I was putting on myself. There was something really natural and beautiful about our connection—just like Bruce and Jon’s.”
Springsteen witnessed first-hand this symbiotic relationship and mused on the parallel to his own experience, a happy coincidence resulting from the whimsy and mysticism of the cinematic. He smiled, “People understood we had a close relationship, but they never saw the dynamics. The film brings Jon’s personality and humanity forward. When I lost my first manager, I asked John to be my manager. He said, ‘I don’t know anything about managing.’ I told him, ‘You can learn to manage. But you can’t learn character.’”
Springsteen on Stephen Graham’s “wonderful” performance
Springsteen had a famously fraught relationship with his father. In his autobiography, Born to Run, the singer revealed that his father used to call him an “outcast, misfit, weirdo sissy boy. He loved me, but couldn’t stand me.”
In Springsteen’s eyes, British actor Stephen Graham was exceptional at embodying the complex dynamism between love and hate, fatherly affection and angry disdain. “Stephen Graham really embodied the emotional complexity of my father. He was an alcoholic, bipolar, and quite mentally ill,” Springsteen shared.
Having previously discussed how bizarre it was to see parts of his life played back, Springsteen noted the particularly spooky aspect of Graham’s affect. “Stephen just inhabited his skin, particularly as an older man—he looked exactly like my dad. You see my father’s vulnerability and sweetness. Stephen did a wonderful job.”
With grace, poise, and a generous emotional openness that fans have come to know Bruce for, he shared his genuine reaction to first seeing the movie: “My sister held my hand throughout the film and said, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we have this?’”
Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is set for release on October 24th.
