Bruce Springsteen’s Only Note on Jeremy Allen White’s ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Portrayal: ‘I Don’t Remember Being That Good Looking’

It must be super disconcerting to be on a movie set and watch a much younger man portray you during one of the most difficult periods of your life. It’s probably even harder to do if that man happens to be a pin-up worthy TV star. Just ask Bruce Springsteen, who sat down with his movie doppelganger, The Bear actor Jeremy Allen White, on The Graham Norton Show on Friday (Oct. 17) to discuss his feelings about the upcoming biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, in which White plays The Boss at a pivotal point in his career.

“I don’t remember being that young or that good looking!,” Springsteen joked to Norton about what it felt like to watch White play him in the film that zooms in on the period in 1982 when the rocker was recording the spare Nebraska album, a left-turn LP that his label thought was potentially career suicide. Springsteen told Norton that the film is not a musical biopic in the vein of the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody or the Elton John look back Rocket Man.

“[It’s] a character-driven drama with music,” Springsteen said, noting that he was on set “a lot” during the filming, but rarely gave White, 34, notes and just tried to enjoy himself and observe as White did his character work in private. “I felt really guilty about that because not only did Jeremy have to play me, but he had to play me while I am sitting right there watching him,” said Springsteen, 76, who noted that he’d watched The Bear and was impressed with how the camera read White’s “internal psychology,” making him the “first choice” for the role. “He was incredibly tolerant and generous of me for which I am grateful. I had a great time,” he said.

White, who does his own singing in the film, said he nervous and wasn’t sure what to expect at first. “You’re trying to drum up some delusion and imagination and seeing the man you are playing in the corner was hard,” the actor said. “But then he came so often it became normal… I think if he had given me notes it might have broken me.”

A huge Springsteen fan, White noted he did a ton of prep to take on the “daunting” role, training six days a week for six months so he could nail the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s distinctively gritty vocal timbre. “The rasp came naturally after singing the songs over and over and over again,” White said.

The Graham Norton Show airs at 10:40 p.m. GMT on BBC One in the U.K.; click here to watch. Deliver Me From Nowhere hits theaters on Oct. 24.