Jeremy Allen White’s challenges in playing Bruce Springsteen in the cinema

Jeremy Allen Whiteactor known (and awarded) for playing Carmy Berzatto in The Bearspoke with PEOPLE about all the preparation necessary to interpret Bruce Springsteen in the biopic Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknownwhich hits Brazilian cinemas on October 30, 2025.

To Whitesinging was his biggest challenge. He comments that he lost his voice for a few days after recording “Born in the USA“, one of the rock star’s most memorable songs. “We kind of tried to get closer to the voice of brucebut in songs like ‘Born in the USA‘, there was nothing that could prepare me”, he says.

The actor had little training time: he had to learn not only singing, but also guitar and acoustic guitar in just seven months. “My first question was: can I interpret these songs with a little honesty? Can I do justice to the lyrics?”, he reflects in retrospect.

Before accepting the role, White says that he had never actually held a guitar in his life. Now, he recalls his first classes comically. “I felt like an alien. I didn’t understand where my fingers [deveriam ir]how they should behave. It was a very humbling start.”

Despite the initial fear, he says the key to success is a lot of repetition. “I hope that if there is enough truth in this song, regardless of whether it sounds exactly like bruce or not, people connect with it”, he comments.

Who is Jeremy Allen White?

The 34-year-old actor became known for his role as Carmy in the series The Bear — with who won the Golden Globes 2025 and the Emmys 2024in the category Best Actor in a Comedy Series. But White has a long career in television: at the beginning of his career, he played Lip Gallagherone of the protagonists of the series Shameless (2011-2021), which followed him from adolescence to adulthood.

He also acted in acclaimed works such as Family Revenge (2021) and Iron Claw (2023), a biographical drama that received the award for Best Actor Ensemble (Best Ensemble) National Board of Review (NBR).

What else do we know about Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknown

Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknown is based on the book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska (2023), by Warren Zanes. Under the direction of Scott Cooper (Hostiles, The Pale Blue Eye), the film portrays the dilemmas experienced by brucebetween his rise to fame and conflicts from his past.

Springsteennow 76 years old, was very demanding when it came to choosing the actor who would play him. In an interview with Spotify (via Far Out), the artist revealed that he noticed a ‘rock star aura’ in him. “I saw The Bear and watched how the camera read his inner life, which was very rich. I knew that was the kind of character we needed: someone who understood the psychological foundations of the character. He just had that,” he commented.

The film focuses on the time when bruce recorded his sixth studio album, Nebraska (1982), around 30 years old. Considered one of the most raw and reflective works of his career, it is a folk album composed of acoustic songs, including hits such as “Atlantic City” and “Mansion on the Hill”.After launch, Springsteen achieved critical acclaim and paved the way for global stardom.

Although “Born in the USA” did not appear on the original album, the musician wrote and recorded a demo for the song while completing the rest of the material — but chose to release it just two years later. “He had years and years of playing in rooms like this and on sound systems, and he really liked testing his voice and training, and I didn’t have that”, he adds White about the process of recording the songs. “I didn’t have that time, so I needed to scream, and that took me out of it.”

The film’s soundtrack will be compiled into an album, scheduled for release on December 5, 2025. Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknown arrives in Brazilian cinemas on October 30th.

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• Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknown