Bruce Springsteen is one of the last titans of rock and roll not to have received a major biopic in recent years, but that will change when Scott Cooper’s “Deliver Me from Nowhere” hits theaters later this year. The film stars Jeremy Allen White as the legendary New Jersey rocker during the early ’80s, when he was both gearing up for the biggest commercial success of his career with “Born in the U.S.A.” and working through his depression on the haunting album “Nebraska.”
Appearing on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast to promote the documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” Springsteen discussed Cooper’s approach to the film.
“They pitched the idea, and I said, ‘It sounds like fun,’” Springsteen said. “It’s an interesting concept, because it’s only a couple of years out of my life. It’s ’81, ’82, and centered 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.”
Springsteen also noted that while he couldn’t attend all of the filming, visiting the set offered him a uniquely nostalgic experience. “I was on tour during a lot of it, so they filmed a good amount of it without me there,” he said. “But I was on set sometimes. It was interesting to see it played out, to see your grandmother’s house again, and to go inside and get a general feeling of what it was like when you were very young. So I enjoyed all those parts of it.”
Springsteen has previously praised White’s performance in the film, from both an acting and musical perspective. “Jeremy is such a terrific actor that you just fall into it,” he said during a January appearance on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio. “He’s got an interpretation of me that I think the fans will deeply recognize, so he’s done a great job. I’ve had a lot of fun being on the set when I can get there.”
“Deliver Me from Nowhere” does not have a release date, but 20th Century Studios will release it theatrically later this year.