Jeremy Allen White 'understands' Bruce Springsteen attending set

Jeremy Allen White 'understands' Bruce Springsteen attending set

Jeremy Allen White can "totally understand" why Bruce Springsteen wanted to be on set while he was filming Deliver Me from Nowhere.

The 34-year-old actor plays the music icon in the new biographical musical drama film, and Jeremy can understand why Bruce wanted to be present during the movie's shoot.

Jeremy told The Hollywood Reporter: "Bruce was a producer on the film, and he and his manager, Jon Landau, who Jeremy Strong plays in the film, were both around quite a bit. They’ve had this beautiful relationship for so long, and they’ve been so in control of Bruce’s career, of his image, of every aspect of his public life.

"It makes total sense why these guys would want to be around as much as they were because I think it’s the first little bit of control that they’ve ever given up, to Scott [Cooper], our director, and to me and to everybody. And so I totally understand him wanting to be there."

Jeremy also observed that there are two sides to Springsteen's character.

He explained: "I can look at his performances, and I can watch interviews, but these are public versions. They’re performative in some sense. No matter how honest you are when you’re talking to the press, that’s not how you’re going to talk to your mother.

"I was running into the same thing where I was like, ‘Does this sound or look like him?’ Because I had all this footage I could go off of, but you don’t know what this man looks like alone in a house. There’s more freedom, but then you’re questioning that freedom."

Earlier this week, director Scott Cooper observed that Jeremy has the "intensity, vulnerability and humility" to play Springsteen.

The filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter: "I knew I had the right actor. Jeremy is incredibly committed, and I’d also seen in him the intensity, vulnerability and humility that I knew from Bruce. And, he has a sense of swagger that you can’t learn in acting school.

"I did not know, however, that he would go to the lengths he did to embody him — his harmonica playing, his movement. I know that he bears a strong resemblance to Bruce in the ’80s, and Bruce’s wife has confirmed that, but what we were after is the essence."

Scott hopes that fans will "connect" with the themes of the new movie, including the struggle between art and commercial demands.

The director explained: "I wanted to convey the difficulty, for any artist, including myself, of balancing the creative risks we take with the commercial considerations.

"I think the story of Nebraska [Springsteen's 1982 album] shows you the importance of having the artistic courage to listen to your intuition. This movie comes out in two weeks, and it’s my fervent hope that people connect to that."