Jeremy Allen White hit Alice Tully Hall for the New York Film Festival Spotlight Gala on September 28, where his latest project had the crowd buzzing: Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. The film dives into Bruce Springsteen’s early-’80s crossroads, when he recorded the haunting, stripped-down Nebraska while simultaneously crafting the demos that would explode into Born in the U.S.A.
For White, stepping into the role of The Boss wasn’t just a performance; it was a deeply personal experience. “I feel proud, very excited," he told us. When it came to singing and working with Springsteen, he admitted, "It was tough at the beginning. But you know what, he is such a good writer. And the same as being an actor - if you have good words in front of you, and the story is clear, the sentiment is clear. Something big will happen. Whether you can sing or not, if you can sing a song honestly, it's going to connect. And I think I was able to sing his songs with enough honesty that it made sense.”
That connection, he admitted, took him somewhere unexpected. When asked if the movie made him think about his connection with his own father, he said, "Yes, of course." "I remember recording 'My Father's House' for the first time in Nashville at RCA, and I called my father right after,” he shared. “So much of this movie is about a young man longing for connection with his father - and Bruce didn’t know how to get it, didn’t know how to start. And he's telling that story through his music. So, this year, I thought about my father a lot, absolutely.”
Of course, embodying a rock legend came with its own hurdles. When asked what the most difficult part was about playing Springsteen, he said, "doing justice to the man who is loved by so many. And also learning to sing, learning the guitar, it was hard - I did not know how to do things before. I had to take lots of classes.”
Inside the event, White posed with the musical legend.
Springsteen gave White his stamp of approval. “Jeremy, he just did a beautiful job,” Springsteen said, per Men's Journal. “As Scott Cooper says, he had the swagger of a rock star. And the camera read his internal life. That was really essential."
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere doesn’t shy away from the raw edges - the familial traumas, the personal depression, the delicate balance between rising fame and inner struggle.
It's also generating Oscar buzz with people wondering if White will earn his first nomination.
With a powerhouse supporting cast including Strong, Stephen Graham, Gaby Hoffmann, and Odessa Young, the film will expand on why Springsteen has always felt both larger-than-life and unmistakably human. It hits theaters on October 24, 2025.