In the new Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere trailer, The Bear star Jeremy Allen White transforms into the Boss at a crucial stage in his career: during the making of Nebraska.
The film isn’t a biopic, exactly, but rather a look at a short but crucial period in Springsteen’s life as an artist. In 1982, as his label seeks a top ten hit, Springsteen opted instead to record quiet, dark, introspective and largely acoustic songs, including “Atlantic City,” the eerie story of mob violence that plays throughout the Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ trailer.
He recorded them largely on a four-track in his New Jersey bedroom.
“This film takes a couple years out of my life and looks at them very closely, a time when I made Nebraska and went through some personal difficulties,” Springsteen said in a statement released Sunday. “I’m so appreciative of Jeremy Allen White and the entire cast for their wonderful and moving performances — and Scott Cooper, one of the most generous collaborators I’ve ever worked with.”
In addition to a striking physical resemblance, White uncannily imitates the Boss’ spoken vocal cadences as he explains himself in the trailer for the film: “I’m tryin’ to find something real.”
What he found included deeply personal songs, as well as songs inspired by Terrence Malick’s film Badlands.
You can watch the trailer here if you don’t see it above.
Background on Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen
Based on Warren Zanes’ book of the same name, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is directed by Cooper (Hostiles), and also stars Jeremy Strong as Springsteen’s long-time confidant and manager, Jon Landau; Paul Walter Hauser as guitar tech Mike Batlan; Odessa Young as Faye; Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father, Doug; Gaby Hoffman as Springsteen’s mother, Adele; and David Krumholtz as Columbia executive, Al Teller.
“Nebraska is where Bruce chose truth over expectation — a choice that still reverberates through everything he’s written since. At that crossroads, he could have chased the bright lights and the roar of arenas, but instead he turned inward, armed only with silence, a four-track recorder, and the courage to confront himself. For him to trust me with telling that story—the most vulnerable chapter of his life—is the greatest honor I’ve ever had as a filmmaker,” Cooper said in a statement.
The trailer debuted during Sunday night’s Emmys, a ceremony where The Bear has been known to clean up.
After debuting this month at the Telluride Film Festival, the film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is produced by Cooper, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson and Scott Stuber. Tracey Landon, Jon F. Vein and Zanes executive produce. The film includes an original score by composer Jeremiah Fraites, cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi, production design by Stefania Cella, costume design by Kasia Walicka-Maimone, and is edited by Pamela Martin.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere arrives in theaters October 24 from 20th Century Studios.