Deliver Me From Nowhere director recalls Bruce Springsteen's epic first reaction to biopic

If you've just made a film about one of the most beloved and revered popular musicians on the planet, you can probably be forgiven for feeling a few nerves before showing the finished product to its subject.

That was certainly the case when Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere writer/director Scott Cooper screened his new biopic for The Boss for the first time.

“He asked me to sit with him, and I said I'd rather not," Cooper explains to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview the day of the film's UK premiere at the London Film Festival. "I was anxious, trepidatious, [but] somehow confident that I'd captured his life."

He recalls walking around outside the screening room "playing every frame in my head thinking, 'Oh, this is where Bruce is at this point, I wonder what he thinks".

And thankfully, when Springsteen emerged from the screening room, his reaction proved to be worth the agonising wait for Cooper.

"He comes out and he'd been crying and kissed me on the cheek and hugged me and said it far exceeded all of his expectations," he explains. "And he's now gone on to see it 9, 10, 11 times."

While that was the first time Springsteen had watched the finished film, the star had spent plenty of time with Cooper during the process of making the movie – which stars The Bear's Jeremy Allen White in the lead role and covers the recording of his 1982 album Nebraska and the personal battles he was facing at the time.

"You can't make a film about Bruce Springsteen and not have his blessing," the director says. "He doesn't hand over any of his stories – in particular, this one.

"I spent many hours with him the first day, essentially pitching him how I saw the world, what I thought of it."

Cooper adds that Springsteen was already "well aware" of all his movies – having watched some of them many times – and had just one directive for him while he was scripting, shooting and editing the film.

"[He said] you have to give me a Scott Cooper movie," he explains. "A movie that doesn't sand off the edges, doesn't let the audience off the hook, one that's honest and raw and vulnerable – much like his album.

"And I made the film in the same way he made his record, minimalist, stark, no gloss, no spectacle, not a jukebox hit, and something very honest, I think."

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is released in UK cinemas on Friday 24th October 2025.

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