When did I get that good-looking?': Bruce Springsteen on seeing Jeremy Allen White play him on screen

"The actor and the rock star walked on separately, but to the same clip of entrance music: the opening lines of Atlantic City, from Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska. It is, after all, the making of this record that provides the focus for Scott Cooper's new film Deliver Me From Nowhere, that sees White cast as Springsteen at a critical moment in the singer's life and career."

"Much of the evening's conversation, steered by Edith Bowman, focused on the intricate process of becoming Bruce, and the unavoidable peculiarity of art meeting life. Springsteen throughout, a portrait of reptilian poise spoke of first sighting White during a sound check at Wembley Stadium, in the summer of 2024. Jeremy was wearing all white, so he was easy to spot, he recalled. I just kind of waved him to the stage and we said hi."

"White was already well steeped in Springsteen's music, had watched hours of concert footage, and read a glut of interviews and biographies. The Wembley show was an opportunity for a greater understanding of Springsteen as a live performer, and to discuss some of the specifics of the Nebraska period with the singer himself. Springsteen recalled bracing himself for an interrogation that did not come: I thought this guy is really gonna be interested in me he said. In the end, however, Jeremy was so prepared, he really asked very few questions. It was an intimidating role to take on, White said. He referred repeatedly to the sheer weight of Springsteen information available, the amount of learning he had to take on, and spoke of the pressure I was putting on myself. Bruce called it focus'. I called it anxiety that hardened, maybe, into focus.'"

Bruce Springsteen appeared with Jeremy Allen White at Spotify's London offices, both entering to the opening lines of "Atlantic City." The event centered on the making of Nebraska and Scott Cooper's film Deliver Me From Nowhere, in which White plays Springsteen during a pivotal career moment. Springsteen described first seeing White at a Wembley sound check and invited him onstage. White immersed himself in Springsteen's music, concert footage, interviews and biographies to capture live performance specifics and the Nebraska period. White described the role as intimidating, noting intense pressure and learning that he characterized as anxiety turning into focus.

Read at www.theguardian.com