Jeremy Allen White has gained increased popularity in recent years for leading The Bear‘s cast, and for good reason. But, now, the actor is about to star in his highest-profile movie role yet — a film in which he’ll play Bruce Springsteen. Since White was cast to play the rockstar earlier this year, he has started the prep process. He’s now shed some light on what that entails, and it sounds like he’s doing a lot of homework to nail Springsteen’s speaking and singing voices.
The actor is no stranger to pressure-associated roles, given the intensity associated with Chef Carmy from The Bear or pro wrestler Kerry Von Erich of last year’s The Iron Claw. It’s safe to say Jeremy Allen White is pulling all the stops to do justice to the “Born In The U.S.A.” singer in the biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere, given his recent comments on the role. Here’s what he said about the research he’s done while preparing for the role:
I’m really lucky that there’s sort of a team of folks now in place to help young actors portray rock stars. [Laughs.] I’ve got a really talented group of people helping me train vocally, musically, to get ready for this thing. I’m also really lucky [that] Bruce is really supportive of the film, and so I’ve had some access to him and he’s just the greatest guy. Also, there’s just so much footage. It’s really great to go down a YouTube rabbit hole and find him at all these different periods in his life and be able to listen to his speaking voice as well as his singing voice. That’s kind of been the deal, just listening to him a lot and watching him a lot. It’s been really fun preparing.
So, while speaking to GQ, Jeremy Allen White revealed that he has a whole team of people who are going to help transform him into the American rocker, who rose to prominence in the early ’70s. The actor has been going down YouTube rabbit holes to take in classic footage of Bruce Springsteen. That includes the Grammy winner’s performances and interviews from over the years. It’s cool to hear White’s going all in to nail the artist’s speaking voice and singing voice. Oh, and he has the access and support of the man himself as well!
Rather than covering Bruce Springsteen’s entire life, Scott Cooper‘s Deliver Me From Nowhere covers the time at which the musician was making his sixth studio album, Nebraska, which hit shelves in 1982. While the album is considered one of his best, it was also made at a particularly rough time for Springsteen both on professional and personal levels.
Nebraska came out between two of the artist’s other most influential albums, The River and Born in the U.S.A. What caused that middle album to stand apart from the others was the stripped-down and downbeat nature of the songs. “The Boss” himself has even called the album a “happy accident.”
As for his upcoming biopic, it’s being written and directed by Scott Cooper, who previously helmed Crazy Heart, Black Mass and The Pale Blue Eye. It’s based on Warren Zanes’ book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and will surely employ some of the singer’s own memories. In addition to Jeremy Allen White, Succesion’s Jeremy Strong may be joining the cast as Springsteen’s longtime manager, Jon Landau.
It’s exciting to hear Jeremy Allen White is getting ready to play Bruce Springsteen, in between The Bear Season 4 and breaking the internet with his Calvin Klein ad, of course! White certainly has the acting chops for the role, but the fact that he’s apparently putting in so much preparation is still encouraging. I’m eager to see how he performs in Deliver Me from Nowhere — one of many upcoming music biopics.