Bruce Springsteen attended and participated in a screening of the new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere at the New York Film Festival on Sunday, September 28. The event took place at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.
After the screening, Bruce was welcomed to the stage along with many members of the movie’s cast and crew, and he gave a humorous and sometimes emotional speech praising those involved in the film. Springsteen also treated audience to an unexpected acoustic performance of his 1999 song “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
As previously reported, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on the making of Bruce’s acclaimed 1982 acoustic album Nebraska. The film, which was directed and co-written by Scott Cooper, stars Jeremy Allen White in the lead role and Jeremy Strong at Springsteen’s longtime manager, Jon Landau. Other key cast members included Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father, Doug; Gaby Hoffman as Bruce’s mom, Adele; Odessa Young as the Boss’ love interest, Faye; and Matthew Pellicano Jr. as a young Bruce.
Cooper addressed the audience after the screening and welcomed all of the aforementioned actors to the stage, as well as Landau and Springsteen.
Springsteen’s Post-Screening Speech
Cooper then handed the mic over to Bruce.
“I want to thank everybody for coming out to see our film tonight. And our crew, [and] the great cast,” Springsteen began his speech. He then thanked White for “putting his whole heart and soul into the part,’ adding, “and he [did] such a wonderful job.” Bruce also jokingly thanked The Bear actor “for playing a much better-looking version of me.”
He also praised Strong “for his creativity and his inspiration.” Springsteen noted, “He had us on the phone at all hours of the night, just with different ideas.” He then quipped, “And he played a much, much better-looking [version of] Jon Landau. I have to say. So we appreciate that very much.”
After Bruce complimented Young’s “fabulous” performance, he hailed Graham “for being the living embodiment of my late father, who had a very difficult life but was a good, goodhearted man.” He also applauded Hoffman “for a wonderful portrayal of my mom.”
Springsteen poignantly added about his parents, “They’re all gone now, so it’s nice to have this piece of film.”
About Pellicano, who played Bruce as a child, the rock legend said, “It was his first film. He’s got the sunglasses already, and he just got his first guitar. That’s what I heard. So he has some difficult choices ahead. That’s all I can tell him. But I’ll declare him the future of rock ‘n’ roll tonight.”
Addressing Cooper, the film’s “wonderful writer/director,” Springsteen noted, “Scott took a very personal moment in my life and he honored my experience and my work and my family. I want to thank you deeply, Scott.”
Bruce also thanked the film’s producers and the studio executives involved with the project.
Springsteen’s Performance and Political Comments
Springsteen ended his speech by touching on his concern over the current political climate in the U.S., while expressing his love for the country.
“These days, you know, we have daily events reminding us of the fact that we’re living through these particularly dangerous times,” he offered. “I spent my life on the road. I’ve been moving around the world as kind of a musical ambassador for America … trying to measure the distance between American reality, where we’ve often fallen short of our ideals, and the American dream.”
He continued, “I’ve seen that America, as battered as she feels right now, but for a lot of folks out there, she continues to be the land of hope and dreams. Not of fear or divisiveness or government censorship or hatred. That America’s worth fighting for.” So it’s in that spirit I brought along my lifelong weapon of choice, the guitar. And I want to dedicate this to all the folks that worked so hard on the film, all our wonderful collaborators.”
Before launching into “Land of Hope and Dreams,” Bruce also shared a moment he experienced while watching the movie at another recent screening with his older sister, Virginia.
“I sat with her during one of the screenings, and she held my hand during the scene where I’m sitting on my pop’s lap,” he explained. “And after the film ended, she says, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we have this?’ And that’s how I feel about it. It’s wonderful that I have this. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. This is for you guys.”
More About Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
As previously reported, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere will get a wide theatrical release on October 24.
The film is based on musician-turned-author Warren Zanes’ 2023 non-fiction novel Deliver Me from Nowhere. Zanes co-wrote the screenplay with Cooper.
Beyond the making of the lo-fi Nebraska, which Bruce mainly recorded at a makeshift home studio, the book and movie focus on Springsteen’s struggle with his record label to release the decidedly noncommercial album.
Springsteen and Landau were both involved in the production of the movie.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios)