Jeremy Allen White: I had to forget about Bruce and approach him as a young musician on the brink of stardom'

"Since 1986, Bruce Springsteen had rejected every offer to make a movie about his life, until the end of 2023, when director Scott Cooper sat down next to writer Warren Zanes in front of Springsteen and Jon Landau, the singer's manager and confidant. Zanes is the author of Deliver Me From Nowhere, a book that recounts the months in which the rocker, after the smash hit success of The River (1980), struggled to avoid being devoured by depression and to maintain his creative purity"

"Bruce had read the script, and he asked me to do a reading with Landau and Zanes, Cooper recalls. And you know what? I had no idea what would happen. Luckily, I was an actor, and I used those tools in the reading. I can't tell you if I did it well, but when it was over, Bruce stood up, applauded, and said, Fantastic. Let's make the movie.'"

Bruce Springsteen rejected biopic offers from 1986 until late 2023, when director Scott Cooper and Warren Zanes met with Springsteen and Jon Landau and secured approval. Warren Zanes recounted the months after The River (1980) when Springsteen struggled with depression and fought to preserve creative purity, a struggle that culminated in Nebraska (1982). Cooper wrote the film script as Zanes completed his account. A reading for Springsteen produced applause and an immediate green light. Jeremy Allen White joined later, built a performance without makeup or imitation, and trained extensively to match Springsteen's early-1980s voice. Springsteen visited the set.

Read at english.elpais.com