Jeremy Allen White is detailing how it felt to portray Bruce Springsteen with singer on set.
White sat down for a THR interview alongside actors Jacob Elordi, Mark Hamill, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Wagner Moura, and Adam Sandler.
Recalling the process of getting cast to play the musician, White said, “There are some actors who feel like they can do anything, that they can show up and figure it out. I wanted to make sure I was the right guy.”
“The odds seemed stacked against me,” he admitted. “I mean, Scott wanted me to do all the singing in it, but I’d never sung before. He wanted me to play the guitar for it, but I’d never played the guitar before. And we had just six months to prepare.”
“But then it was that thing of, ‘Am I going to shy away from this challenge or am I going to jump and see what happens?’ It was a leap of faith,” he shared.
The Smashing Machine star Johnson asked Jeremy if he felt added pressure to portray “one of the greatest ever.
“For sure,” he replied, “one of the greatest ever, and also, people have their own understanding of Bruce Springsteen, and I felt like, ‘I don’t want to interrupt that understanding’ It’s so pure and powerful, and he’s adored, and I just didn’t want to mess with it.”
Sinners star Jordan wondered if being able to acces Bruce made it easier to portray him.
White explained, “In the beginning, I spent a lot of time with Bruce — he was very gracious and generous with his time.”
“But then he was on set almost every day, which was something that we did not speak about prior. And I was just like, ‘Oh, nooo,'” recalled The Bear star.
Frankenstein actor Elordi sympathized, saying, “I saw pictures of that and felt for you.”
Even veteran actor Hamill felt for him, saying, “I get vicarious flop sweat just thinking about it.”
Elordi joked, “Did you ever feel like you could have an argument with him and say, ‘I don’t think he would do it that way?'”