Bruce Springsteen has shed light on his decision to give upcoming biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere the go-ahead, despite charting a “difficult” time in his life.
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The film stars Jeremy Allen White as The Boss, chronicling the New Jersey legend’s journey to recording his sixth album, ‘Nebraska’. Succession star Jeremy Strong plays Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager and producer, while Adolescence actor Stephen Graham portrays his father, Douglas Springsteen.
Speaking recently at a Telluride Film Festival panel, Springsteen touched on “what brought this one along”, having presumably been approached about a biopic before.
“I think we had a very specific idea – Scott [Cooper, the writer-director] had a very specific idea, particularly, of what we were gonna attempt to do. And, for lack of a better word, it was an anti-biopic.
“You know, it’s really not a biopic,” he said (via Variety). “It just takes a couple years out of my life when I was 31 and 32, and looks at them really at a time when I made this particular record, and when I went through some just difficult places in my life, you know. And, I’m old and I don’t give a fuck what I do now.”
Cooper said White’s approach to role had “an intensity of vulnerability and authenticity” he’d seen across Springsteen’s work. “Jeremy has two things that really, for me, make up Bruce Springsteen, and one is humility. And the other is swagger.”
“That’s half-right,” Springsteen joked in response, drawing laughter from the Colorado crowd.
It echoes comments made by the heartland rocker earlier in the year, when he gave enthusiastic praised those involved in the film. Speaking to Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, he discussed how the project came about, saying it was “an interesting concept, because it’s only a couple of years out of my life”.
He continued: “It’s ’81, ’82, and centred around the creation of that particular record while I was simultaneously recording ‘Born in the USA’ and also going through some personal difficulties that I’ve been living with my whole life. But it’s fantastic.”
The feeling was mutual for the cast, with Strong describing it as “one of the greatest working experiences I’ve ever had”. Graham also spoke positively about the project, revealing he was left in tears after receiving praise from Bruce Springsteen, describing his messages as: “The most gorgeous texts I’ve ever had in my life.”
