Bruce Springsteen has shared his thoughts on Jeremy Allen White‘s casting as The Boss in an upcoming biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere.
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Yesterday (October 28), the first official look at The Bear star Jeremy Allen White as a young Bruce Springsteen was unveiled. In the picture – which you can see below – White dons The Boss’ signature flannel and denim jacket look, with his hands tucked into his pockets.
In a recent chat with The Telegraph, Springsteen was asked about White’s casting. The Boss replied, explaining White was “the right guy” for the role: “I only had to see him on The Bear, and I knew he was the right guy, because he had that interior life, but he also had a little swagger.”
Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime mentor and manager added that playing The Boss would see White “depicting a very interior person. There’s always a tremendous amount going on, some of which gets articulated, and some of which is held back.”
In the film, Landau will be portrayed by Succession‘s Jeremy Strong. Landau has since spoken to Strong and offered him the following advice: “I did tell him that he didn’t, in terms of his weight, need to go the full Raging Bull on the character development.” Springsteen chimed in, joking that the film’s producers “tried to get [Strong] in the fat suit”.
White’s casting as Springsteen for Deliver Me From Nowhere was first reported in April. The film, set to release next year, will explore the making of Springsteen’s iconic 1982 album ‘Nebraska’.
As well as White and Strong, Deliver Me From Nowhere will star Peaky Blinders’ Steven Graham as Springsteen’s father and Black Bird’s Paul Walter Hauser as guitar tech Mike Batlan.
Speaking recently about White’s performance, the real-life Landau told The Hollywood Reporter: “Oh my god, he’s just perfect. The casting is great. [Director] Scott [Cooper] said to me at the beginning, he said, ‘We get the right cast, and we’ll tell this story right,’ and he got the right cast.”
In August, White opened up about preparing for the role, explaining: “I’m really lucky that there’s sort of a team of folks now in place to help young actors portray rock stars. I’ve got a really talented group of people helping me train vocally, musically, to get ready for this thing.”
He added that Springsteen had been “really supportive of the project” and called the rock icon “just the greatest guy”.
