Bruce Springsteen has shared his verdict on Stephen Graham’s portrayal of his father.
The Liverpudlian actor, 51, stars as Douglas Frederick “Dutch” Springsteen in Deliver Me From Nowhere, with The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White taking on the role of The Boss himself.
The film is an adaptation of the 2023 book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. It follows Springsteen, who has 20 Grammy wins for his 21 studio albums and over 300 songs, as he makes his deeply personal 1982 album Nebraska.
Now Springsteen, who has previously said he excused himself from shooting due to the emotional intensity of some scenes, has praised Graham in a new interview with The Times.
Watching Graham portray his dad was “a little otherworldly, and also quite touching”, said the “Dancing in the Dark” singer.
The 75-year-old – who was promoting his forthcoming record Tracks II: The Lost Albums by Bruce Springsteen –remained otherwise tight-lipped about the forthcoming film, which is slated to hit theatres in October.
Earlier this year, Graham revealed that he was brought to tears by Springsteen who texted him a “beautiful” message concerning his performance in the film.
The Adolescence star said: “He’s a working-class hero. He’s an icon to thousands, to millions. And his text just said, ‘Thank you so much. You know, my father passed away a while ago and I felt like I saw him today and thank you for giving me that memory.’”
Springsteen’s comments follow shortly after an interview with Rolling Stone, in which he revealed he had occasionally visited the set during shooting – adding that White had been “wonderfully tolerant” of him on set.
“I’m sure it’s much worse for the actor than for me,” said the musician. “Jeremy Allen White was very, very tolerant of me the days that I would appear on the set. I said to him, ‘Look, anytime I’m in the way, just give me the look and I’m on my way home.’
“So the days that I got out there, he was wonderfully tolerant with me being there. And it was just fun. It was enjoyable.”
Springsteen, who has spoken openly about his struggles with depression, said that he recused himself from set when the cast were shooting particularly emotionally intense scenes from his childhood.
“If there was a scene coming up that was sometimes really deeply personal, I wanted the actors to feel completely free, and I didn’t want to get in the way, and so I would just stay at home,” he said.
A first trailer for the film was released earlier this week, depicting White singing Springsteen’s smash hit “Born To Run”.
The two-and-a-half-minute clip divided fans online, with some quick to praise White’s performance and others left unconvinced by the resemblance between the actor and Springsteen.
Elsewhere, the “Philadelphia” singer recently made headlines for taking the time during a Manchester, England, concert to brand the Trump administration as “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.”
The US president called him a “dried out prune” in retaliation, stating he “ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back in the country”.
Speaking to The Times in this new interview, Springsteen said of the country’s political climate: “It’s an American tragedy. We’re living through a terrible moment in history, where Congress has neutered itself and the boundaries that once curtailed this type of leadership have disintegrated.”
Heston Blumenthal on his bipolar diagnosis: ‘It’s changed everything’
Bruce Springsteen biopic trailer leaves fans divided over Jeremy Allen White casting
Ayo Edebiri and Mark Ruffalo among stars at huge anti-Trump protests
Billy Strings announces during show that his ‘beautiful’ mother died hours earlier
Babyshambles pay tribute after guitarist Patrick Walden dies aged 46
Kacey Musgraves cancels show after breaking rib in ‘extremely hard fall’
