Stepping on to the set of your first major studio film can be a nerve-wracking experience in itself, but for 27-year-old Odessa Young, who plays Bruce Springsteen’s love interest Faye in newly released biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, meeting her scene partner Jeremy Allen White involved a whole other dimension of strangeness. “The experience of watching The Bear is so stressful that I’ve kind of got this muscle memory where, the first few times I saw Jeremy, I was sent straight back into the state I was in while watching it,” she laughs. “Obviously he dissolved that very quickly!”
Moving to Los Angeles from hometown Sydney mere hours after turning 18 and “still drunk on the plane from my birthday”, Young’s trajectory has been slowly building since. She’s notched up notable parts in the film adaptation of A Million Little Pieces opposite Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Shirley, with Elizabeth Moss, but it’s with the advent of her latest that Young’s life has taken a Hollywood turn. Sitting in a luxurious room at Claridge’s, the morning after walking the red carpet alongside White and Springsteen himself for the London Film Festival’s UK premiere, life is a whirlwind for Young right now — and the film set itself was no exception.
“Steven Spielberg came to the set one day and that was really surreal, and then I went to see Jeremy perform Born to Run, which opens the film, at Cincinnati Stadium and that was surreal because it felt like a real [concert].” Leaning into the giddiness became part of the process. In the film, Faye begins her story as a fan of Springsteen, “so Faye was starting a relationship with somebody she admired while I was experiencing being on a set with these people I really admire,” Young notes.
In between shooting, they would hang out on set at The Stone Pony — the real life venue in which Springsteen regularly played. Sometimes, The Boss himself would show up and pop behind the bar, helping himself to a beer. It reads like something of a fever dream for any fan. “I’ve been listening to his music my entire life,” she says. “My family’s a Springsteen family; everybody loves him.” However, Young is very evidently an even bigger fan of acting and the entire craft of her increasingly-exciting career itself. Next up is a part in 2026’s Harmonia, alongside Carrie Coon, Bella Ramsey and Lily James. Young is visibly where she wants to be.
“Watching Stephen Graham [Springsteen’s father] felt like I was watching a David Blaine performance — just how does he do that?! It’s astounding,” she says, getting visibly excited. “I just really love seeing people’s processes. I love seeing how people work. I’m just really into this job,” she concludes with a smile. “I’m in the right field.”
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is in cinemas from October 24
