Image credit: Wise Owl Film/Fox Searchlight
Springsteen: As I approached my rescue, Bruce Springsteen revealed his experience visiting the set and watching his personal story unfold through someone else’s performance.
The upcoming biopic directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart from the Furnace) stars Bare Emmy winner Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen in the creation of the crucial and painful chapter of his life, the 1982 album Nebraska. Based on Warren Zaneth’s 2023 book of the same name, the film represents a turning point in Springsteen’s career, working on isolation, self-doubt, and the weight of artistic truth.
“It was just fun. It was fun.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen was asked what it was like to see the actor portraying him. “I’m sure it’s far worse for an actor than I do,” he said. “Jeremy Allen White was very forgiving in the days when I was on set. I said to him, “I’m always looking at me whenever I’m in the way and on my way home.” So in the days I was out there he was tolerant of me being there.
Springsteen had kind words not only for White, but also for the ensemble cast, including Jeremy Strong (Succession) as longtime manager John Landau and Stephen Graham (Adolescent) as Springsteen’s father and Doug. “It was a great project, and Jeremy and Jeremy Strong were both great and amazing as all the other actors. Stephen Graham plays my father and he’s out of this world, but everyone who was involved in the film was incredible.”
I’m away from the heaviest scene
Not every moment is easy to witness. Springsteen admitted that the film will dive into some of his past most difficult moments. “In a way, the film contains the most painful days of my life, so there are some anomalies to it.”
To give the actors space, Springsteen intentionally moved away from the more emotionally filled scenes. “If there’s really deep, personal scenes coming up at times, I’d just be at home because I wanted the actors to feel completely free and didn’t want to get in the way.”
He added that his tour schedule meant that he had no presence in much of the early production. “I was on tour in Canada in the first month or so of filming, so I was really on a fair amount of roads and working there.”
film
Springsteen: Please rescue me. The cast also includes Love’s interest Odessa Young, Gabby Hoffman as his mother Adele, Mark Maron as producer Chuck Plotkin and David Krumholtz as Columbia.
In a statement, writer-director Scott Cooper described the project as “deeply moving,” giving it the opportunity to “stand into the soul of an artist I have long admired and witness the vulnerability and strength behind his music.” He continued. “This experience felt like a journey through memories, myths and truths, and more than anything, it was a privilege to translate that raw emotional integrity onto the screen. In doing so, it changed me.”
The film is scheduled to be released in Australia on October 23rd and in the US on October 24th.
