Jeremy Allen White’s Bruce Springsteen Gamble Won’t Please Everyone — And He’s Fine With That
As Oscar buzz builds for his turn as Bruce Springsteen, Jeremy Allen White knows stepping into The Boss’s boots won’t win over everyone.
Jeremy Allen White has been living in Bruce Springsteen land for a while now, and with Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere heading to theaters soon, he just laid out what it took to play 'The Boss' at a turning point in his life. Short version: it sounds exhausting in exactly the way Springsteen would probably approve of.
'You have to go until you drop'
"If you're gonna do one thing to get it right, you have to perform to the point of exhaustion. Cause he continues until he cannot go any longer."
That was White in a new CBS sit-down, talking about the only approach that made sense for him: match the stamina. Springsteen's shows are famously long; his longest US set ran four hours and two minutes. White's logic tracks.
The 'everyone has their own Bruce' problem
White also admitted the obvious hurdle: this is one of those roles where every person in the audience brings their own version of the guy with them.
At first, he says he got stuck trying to satisfy every mental image of Springsteen. Then he realized that was an unwinnable game and adjusted. Smart move. Icon portraits go sideways fast when the goal is universal approval.
Springsteen on the set, the Stone Pony at night
Springsteen himself made a point of showing up during production whenever he could, within the guardrails director Scott Cooper set. A lot of nights were spent at the Stone Pony in New Jersey, one of Springsteen's old haunts, where White got a trial by fire in front of a real crowd.
White says Springsteen even came out and introduced him to the room, effectively handing him a warmed-up audience. For about three and a half minutes, White felt like a star. Then the first A.D. called 'Cut,' the place went quiet, and he was snapped right back to reality: not Bruce Springsteen — an actor playing him. It is a sharp, slightly surreal reminder of the line between performance and persona.
Awards chatter and what to know next
The film stirred up strong buzz out of its Telluride debut, and White is suddenly a very real part of the Best Actor conversation. He might not be lonely there, either: Jeremy Strong, who plays Springsteen's longtime manager Jon Landau, is getting plenty of supporting-actor attention.
- Festival launch: Premiered at Telluride, sparked awards momentum
- Acting buzz: Jeremy Allen White is seen as a potential first-time Oscar nominee
- Supporting heat: Jeremy Strong is in the mix for playing Jon Landau
- Release date: October 24
- Tickets: On sale now