{"id":182862,"date":"2025-08-28T18:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182862\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T18:30:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:30:11","slug":"jeremy-allen-whites-journey-from-springsteen-fan-to-playing-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182862\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremy Allen White’s journey from Springsteen fan to playing the Boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Jeremy Allen White<\/a> grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen<\/a>. He doesn\u2019t even remember a time in his life when he wasn\u2019t aware of his music. But sing his songs? It wasn\u2019t until White began preparing to play the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll legend for \u201cSpringsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere\u201d that he even tried.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never really sang anything, never mind Bruce,\u201d White says. \u201cThere was a leap of faith that we were all taking.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an established playbook for music biopics. \u201cDeliver Me From Nowhere\u201d ignored all of it. The film, written and directed by Scott Cooper (\u201cCrazy Heart,\u201d \u201cBlack Mass\u201d), eschews the standard life-spanning, play-the-hits approach and instead focuses on a small portion of Springsteen\u2019s sprawling life: the making of his 1982 album, \u201cNebraska.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album, a minimalist masterpiece recorded on a four track in Springsteen\u2019s bedroom in Colts Neck, New Jersey, doesn\u2019t lend itself to anything like a glossy big-screen jukebox. \u201cDeliver Me From Nowhere,\u201d instead, is aimed more at the soul of Springsteen. For the role, Cooper turned to who he considers one of the best actors of his generation \u2014 even though he had no singing experience. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Jeremy Allen White on taking \u2018a leap of faith\u2019 to play Springsteen in \u2018Deliver Me From Nowhere\u2019\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on one the most anticipated films of the Fall season, about Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember early on speaking to Scott about the project and being really excited to do it with him but also telling him, \u2018Hey, I don\u2019t know how to play the guitar and I\u2019ve never really sang before. Are we going to be able to figure out this together?\u2019\u201d White recalls. \u201cBut Scott had faith. And Bruce had faith. And we trusted each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpringsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,\u201d which 20th Century Studios will release Oct. 24 in theaters,<\/a> is the first movie based on Springsteen\u2019s life. It was made with Springsteen\u2019s involvement; he gave input to on the script, on casting and attended several days on set. It\u2019s also the first leading movie role for White, the 34-year-old Emmy-winning star of \u201cThe Bear,\u201d who sings all the songs in the film. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that he had the two qualities that really embody Bruce: humility and swagger,\u201d Scott says. \u201cAnd they don\u2019t teach swagger at Julliard. You either have it or you don\u2019t. I was never concerned. He\u2019s sensational.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bruce shows up<\/p>\n

\u201cDeliver Me From Nowhere,\u201d based on Warren Zanes\u2019 2023 book, co-stars Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau, Springsteen\u2019s longtime manager and record producer. Landau was also involved in the project from its inception. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that this was the first time Bruce had handed the wheel over to anybody to tell a story of his,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cThey were never directors in any way but were always there when I had a question. Of course, when you\u2019re Jeremy Allen White and you have Bruce Springsteen show up, that\u2019s a whole different story.\u201d<\/p>\n

For White, Springsteen was a great resource in a movie that aspired to authentic interiority. \u201cNebraska\u201d was a major departure for Springsteen. Its 10 songs spun tales of blue-collar workers soaked through with Springsteen\u2019s own childhood memories and reverberating with an American storytelling tradition running from Flannery O\u2019Connor to Woody Guthrie. Springsteen intended the raw demos to be later recorded with the E Street Band, but ultimately decided to release the unvarnished recordings.<\/p>\n

White sees the film, in part, as about the artistic process.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was drawing inspiration from all these places but he didn\u2019t really know what he was doing for a while with this record,\u201d White says. \u201cHe didn\u2019t know if it was going to be a record. As an actor, hopefully you\u2019re doing that sort of thing all the time. That artistic curiosity is something I related to.\u201d<\/p>\n

White first spent time with Springsteen in London, where he also attended a concert. The actor later spoke to Patti Scialfa, Springsteen\u2019s bandmate and wife of 34 years, and friends of the rock legend. After peppering Springsteen with questions during preproduction in New Jersey, White says he mostly kept his head down during the shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cBruce is very gracious,\u201d White says. \u201cHe was trying to make himself as small as possible on set, but that\u2019s very difficult for Bruce Springsteen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding the voice<\/p>\n

The challenge musically was considerable. To prepare, White worked with vocal coach Eric Vetro (who a also trained Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet for \u201cA Complete Unknown\u201d<\/a> ), guitar instructor J.D. Simo and music supervisor Dave Cobb. For White, a turning point came when they went to RCA in Nashville to record most of the songs over a 48-hour period. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that\u2019s where I found my confidence,\u201d White says. \u201cI\u2019m in this recording studio. It\u2019s a very large room, you\u2019re kind of by yourself. And I got to sing Bruce\u2019s songs over and over again. I remember feeling closer and closer to the man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though \u201cAtlantic City\u201d was initially the song White gravitated toward, the one that ended up striking a chord was \u201cMy Father\u2019s House,\u201d one of Springsteen\u2019s most stirring and plaintive ballads.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember each time singing that song and understanding it more thoroughly,\u201d says White. \u201cLearning something new each time, just going deeper each time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018A film about America\u2019s soul\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDeliver Me From Nowhere\u201d will arrive at a time when Springsteen has ratcheted up his criticism of President Donald Trump<\/a>. At a concert in May, Springsteen told the audience: \u201cThe America I love, the America I\u2019ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.\u201d Trump responded by calling Springsteen \u201cnot a talented guy \u2014 just a pushy, obnoxious jerk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper and White have a much different impression from their time with Springsteen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if a lot of people with his level of success and notoriety and fame, a public person decade after decade, can remain so in touch and available and honest with people day after day,\u201d White says. \u201cWhat was important to him remains his art, yes, but it\u2019s his family and Patti. All of his morals are right in line \u2014 what I consider to be right in line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Says Cooper: \u201cBruce isn\u2019t just a musician. He\u2019s the symbol of something that\u2019s uniquely American. The blue-collar poet. The reluctant moral conscience. I think to make a film about Bruce is to make a film about America\u2019s soul. The power of that lies in his emotional honesty and his work resonates across all political lines because he tells the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper wasn\u2019t just speaking theoretically. Making \u201cDeliver Me From Nowhere\u201d coincided with multiple tragedies for the director. His father died the day before shooting began. During the last week of production, he lost his house in the Palisades fire<\/a> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeremy and Bruce and a really wonderful crew and cast of actors lifted me up and carried me through to the finish line,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cWhen we didn\u2019t have a place to live, Bruce moved my family into his place in Los Angeles. And Jeremy was there on some of my darkest days. The movie, for me, has a particular resonance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Jeremy Allen White grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen. He doesn\u2019t even remember a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2122,4580,102873,69,171,102877,102874,57,8758,69040,77488,224,53,975,1571,401,4581,82347,32771,61,67,132,68,102875,102876],"class_list":{"0":"post-182862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-arts-and-entertainment","9":"tag-bruce-springsteen","10":"tag-dave-cobb","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-eric-vetro","14":"tag-flannery-oconnor","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-jeremy-allen-white","17":"tag-jeremy-strong","18":"tag-jon-landau","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-movies","21":"tag-music","22":"tag-national","23":"tag-new-jersey","24":"tag-patti-scialfa","25":"tag-scott-cooper","26":"tag-timothee-chalamet","27":"tag-u-s-news","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-warren-zanes","32":"tag-woody-guthrie"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115107819186831780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}