Bruce Springsteen Tells Telluride Why He Gave the Go-Ahead to Exploring His Darker Side in ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’: ‘Because I’m Old and I Don’t Give a F— Now’

One of the most eagerly awaited moments at this year’s Telluride Film Festival was an unannounced—though widely rumored—appearance by Bruce Springsteen. The rock icon participated in a post-screening Q&A following the second showing of the dramatic feature “Springsteen: Deliver Us From Nowhere.” When questioned about why he finally greenlit this film after presumably rejecting numerous other proposals, Springsteen humorously pushed back, saying, “Um, I don’t know that he have.” His longtime manager Jon Landau, seated beside him, did not clarify how many prior offers had been declined over the decades.

Springsteen elaborated on what set this project apart, explaining that director Scott Cooper had a “very specific idea” for an “anti-biopic” that avoided sweeping life coverage in favor of a tight focus on the turbulent period when he was 31 and 32 years old—the era during which he created his landmark 1982 album “Nebraska.” The album, recorded largely alone on a four-track tape recorder, is widely regarded as one of Springsteen’s most raw and influential works. He wrapped up his thoughts with characteristic frankness: “And, I’m old and I don’t give a fuck what I do now.”

Joining Springsteen and Cooper onstage at Telluride’s intimate 600-seat Palm Theatre were actors Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, who portray a young Springsteen and Landau, respectively. White, whose vocal performances in the film closely mirror Springsteen’s originals, admitted he initially told Cooper, “I don’t know how to sing and I don’t know how to play the guitar.” After five months of intensive coaching—including sessions in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb where he re-recorded much of the “Nebraska” album—White gained the confidence needed for the role.

Cooper praised White’s “intensity of vulnerability and authenticity,” traits he saw as essential to capturing Springsteen’s essence. “Jeremy has two things that really, for me, make up Bruce Springsteen,” Cooper noted, “and one is humility. And the other is swagger.” Springsteen quipped, “That’s half-right,” drawing laughter. White also described the physical toll of emulating Springsteen’s powerhouse vocals, especially on “Born in the U.S.A.,” which was demoed during the “Nebraska” era. After a grueling session left him voiceless and with a migraine, White ran into Springsteen, who dryly remarked, “Sounds about right. You sound exactly like me.”

Springsteen confirmed that one of the film’s most poignant scenes—in which his father asks him to sit on his lap backstage—was drawn directly from real life. It took place after a Los Angeles show when he was 32. Another key moment, though fictionalized, grew from Springsteen’s own musical intuition. The night before filming a bedroom scene, Jeremy Strong called to ask what song Springsteen would play “if you were trying to save somebody’s life.” Springsteen immediately suggested Sam Cooke’s “The Last Mile of the Way,” which was incorporated the next day and became one of his favorite sequences.

Cooper revealed that the film drew inspiration from Warren Zanes’ book “Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska,” which itself was prompted by the brief treatment of the album in Springsteen’s memoir. For Cooper, the project held deep personal meaning—his father, who first introduced him to “Nebraska,” passed away the day before filming began. “His spirit carried me through it,” Cooper said, describing the film as a portrait of “a man sitting alone in a bedroom with a four-track recorder facing unresolved trauma and mental health illness.” He acknowledged the commercial risk involved and thanked 20th Century Studios for their support.

In closing, Springsteen reflected on watching the film’s first screening with his sister Pamela, who appears in flashbacks to their childhood in Freehold, New Jersey. “She held onto my hand,” he recalled, “and at the end of it, she turns to me and says, ‘Isn’t it wonderful we have this?’” The moment highlighted the film’s intimate, emotionally precise approach—far from a standard biopic, it zeroes in on a formative period with unflinching honesty.