Jeremy Allen White takes ‘leap of faith’ as the Boss

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen wasn’t born to run to the cinema. He’d rather be sequestered in a rock ’n’ roll club.

On a weekday afternoon at his beloved Stone Pony on the Jersey Shore, cameras are rolling, but no one is behind a mic or strumming a guitar.

The cast of the new Springsteen movie is singing a few praises. The Boss is among those who have nothing but love for a certain young actor who proved he could join the “tramps like us” brigade.

“I immediately thought of Jeremy Allen White,” the 76-year-old Springsteen says of his choice to play the younger version of himself in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” opening Oct. 24.

“There was some sort of physical resemblance. It was in the way he carried himself. And then there was the way the camera read his internal life. I said, ‘This is the guy,’ ” the rocker says before joking, “Thankfully, he’s also a much better-looking version of me.”

Standing in the Stone Pony in black jeans and a black leather jacket, White looks every bit a rocker, although he’s best known for his Emmy-winning turn as chef Carmy Berzatto on “The Bear.”

“I started in a place of real fear, to be honest,” White says of “Springsteen.” “I know how beloved Bruce is with his audience. This is an intimate and personal relationship between the fans and Bruce. So, it was a bit daunting at first. He is one of the greatest singers and songwriters that America has ever produced.”

What calmed his fears was a direct line to man himself: Springsteen answered any and all questions. “Bruce never wanted this movie to be about the myth or the icon,” White says. “He wanted it to be about a man who happens to be Bruce Springsteen.”

The musical drama, written and directed by Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”), is based on the 2023 book by Warren Zanes. It follows Springsteen during a pivotal point in his early career as he struggles with fame and the pressure of writing a new album — his landmark 1982 record “Nebraska.”

White knows that life. The son of actors, the Brooklyn native made his breakthrough as juvenile delinquent Lip Gallagher in the dramedy series “Shameless” before becoming a leading man in “The Bear” and the film “The Iron Claw.” He will play Rotta the Hutt in 2026’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

The father of two daughters offered his good life tips:

Ask lots of questions

White says Springsteen was always on set or just a phone call away. They walked the Jersey boardwalk together and laughed with overjoyed fans. “I could ask him really direct questions early on in production like, ‘Why this period of time? What happened on the journey? On the road trips?’” the actor says. “We went over really specific moments, and he was immediately so honest. … There is a real softness when you look back and remember what happened in a man’s life.”

Honest and open

Springsteen has been very honest about dealing with depression during periods of his life and other mental health topics. “Bruce talked to me about a panic attack he’d had, and he described it to me as, in this moment, he felt like he was like a voyeur in his own life,” White says. “He was an observer. He felt so outside of himself, and he told me that story. That’s a feeling I’m familiar with. I’m always trying to find some presence in my own life.”

Prep work

To play a chef on “The Bear,” White completed an intensive culinary training program at the Institute of Culinary Education and even worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant named Pasjoli in Santa Monica, California. “To play Bruce, I read books, listened to the music, watched footage,” he says. “Bruce is such a well-known figure that I buried myself in him for a while. Once I approached him as a man and not an icon, I found my footing.”

Channeling Bruce

White says playing guitar and singing as Springsteen was both a physical and mental challenge. “I had never really sung anything, never mind Bruce,” he says. “This was a leap of faith that we were all taking. … I did pre-record ‘Born to Run’ at the same place where it was originally recorded. I’ll never forget that day,” says White. “You can’t quite sing that song. You have to shout it.

“It laid me out. Two hours of singing that song and I was on my back. I lost my voice for four days, too. … I did my best with the singing, and by the end I liked the sound of my voice. I’d scream into a pillow to capture that Bruce rasp.”

Don’t chase perfection

White says in life — and in this film — “you don’t have to sand off the edges.” He adds, “Life doesn’t have to be perfect. Bruce told me, ‘I know you won’t sand off the edges.’ He told me things he has never told anyone. There are things in this film that have never been disclosed. Bruce’s message is that the truth about yourself often isn’t so pretty.”

Mindset matters

“Earlier in life, I was too concerned with what other people might think of me. You have to get rid of that line of thinking because it’s heavy,” White says.