Film news: How Jeremy Allen White found Bruce Springsteen’s voice for new biopic
One of the biggest challenges for any actor in a musical biopic is adopting the singing presence of the artist inspiring the story.
For Jeremy Allen White, his challenge has been greater than most as he steps into the shoes of rock legend Bruce Springsteen for Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Film News Blitz’s Dan Lawrence unpicks how White did the job.
What is ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ about?
Deliver Me From Nowhere is directed by Scott Cooper (The Pale Blue Eye), who also wrote the screenplay as an adaptation of Warren Zane’s book of the same name.
Rather than a traditional biopic covering an entire artist’s life, Deliver Me From Nowhere homes in on a very particular period of Springsteen’s life.
The period in question is when ‘The Boss’ worked on his 1982 lo-fi album Nebraska.
Springsteen suffered from depression during this period, in which he recorded the album’s tracks in relative solitude in his bedroom.
The iconic rock star, who continues to delight arenas around the world, has personally endorsed this film, which arrives in cinemas on October 24.
How White captured ‘The Boss’
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, White described the process which helped him capture the extraordinary musicality and voice of Springsteen.
“We recorded at RCA where Elvis recorded the Sun Records, which is a big inspiration for Bruce with Nebraska, and I recorded it and that's when I started feeling closest to Bruce,” he said.
“This is about three months before we started shooting, and then Bruce listened. And Bruce said… ‘It sounds great. You sound like me, but not just like me. You made this song your own, and that's how I want you to make this film.’
“So very early on I had his permission to make the man my own and make the story my own, which meant a lot.”
Early reception for ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’
Deliver Me from Nowhere premiered at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival on August 29 and has been warmly received by critics so far.
A 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 26 reviews is a respectable result for a film that will be going to war in awards season across the coming months.
For White, after his extraordinary success as the lead star in the smash-hit series The Bear, he will be hoping for similar recognition that befell his peers, Austin Butler (Oscar nominee for Elvis) and Timothée Chalamet (Oscar nominee for A Complete Unknown), in their respective music biopic performances.
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