ASBURY PARK, N.J. − To portray Bruce Springsteen, Jeremy Allen White had to learn to walk, talk and wail like one of rock’s most inimitable icons.
But perhaps more importantly, he needed to capture the Boss’ unbreakable bond with Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), his manager and co-producer of roughly 50 years. Their relationship is central to the new movie “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” (in theaters Oct. 24), which explores the cathartic creation of 1982’s “Nebraska” album.
Meeting Strong for the first time last year, “we were both so nervous,” White recalls, seated in a back corner of famed music venue The Stone Pony, where Springsteen got his start. The actors were introduced at a screening of Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” featuring Strong’s Oscar-nominated turn as political puppet master Roy Cohn.
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“I played a different mentor to a different man,” Strong says wryly. “I’ve admired Jeremy for a long time, but when you meet outside of the arena, as it were, it’s always a bit strange. I remember saying, ‘I know we’re going to meet in this other universe soon and I’ll see you there.’ ”
