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Boston Globe

Author Warren Zanes was on set with Springsteen to see his book about the musician adapted for film

Many of us have a record we turn to in tough times, and ever since Warren Zanes was a student at Massachusetts' Phillips Andover, his go-to has been Bruce Springsteen's 1982 acoustic solo record, 'Nebraska.' 'In any hard passage in my life, 'Nebraska' went back on the turntable,' Zanes, 59, said in our recent phone interview from his Montclair, N.J., home. Zanes, a musician himself from Concord, N.H., He turned to 'Nebraska' during a rough stretch a few years ago: His father died just before the pandemic. He lost a job, his second marriage fell apart, his son was diagnosed with epilepsy. Springsteen created 'Nebraska' at his own low point, recording it alone in a bedroom, a 'matter of months from a breakdown,' Zanes writes. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up That record yielded Zanes's latest book: ' Advertisement And the book, in turn, inspired Springsteen to say yes to something he'd historically said no to: a biopic. Months after the book dropped, wheels were turning on what would become the movie ' Warren Zanes's book about Bruce Springsteen has been adapted for the biopic "Deliver Me from Nowhere." Handout 'The guiding spirit through all this is the record,' Zanes says. ''Nebraska' was the energy source inspiring every step.' Advertisement Just 23 months after the book hit shelves, its got an adaptation release-date, set for later this year. Last week, the first cut of the movie's trailer, introduced by White and Strong, screened at CinemaCon — an annual convention of movie theater owners — in Vegas. Q. I can't believe how quickly A. Eric Robinson from the Gotham Group heard that podcast and reached out. But I had such an awareness of my limits — you need the musician's life rights, music rights; it's way beyond the author — that I had a realistic attitude. If all you have is Warren Zanes you don't have much. So I turned him over to my agent. But Eric, and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, were good producers in that they weren't stopping until I gave a definitive no. Q. Eric went to New Jersey and took you out to dinner. A. Everything was made easy for me, and it involved food — that was smart on his part. At that dinner he said: 'This is not 'Rocket Man.' This is not 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' This is a sliver of his life — but a crucial sliver. You can learn a lot about Springsteen from this one record. Who is the artist who would make that choice? It's also a story about childhood trauma, and creating through it. Eric understood: You can look at this one moment and derive some sense for the man. Advertisement Q. Did he envision Jeremy Allen White from the start? A. By the end of that dinner, we were talking actor, director. His first choice for [the lead] was Jeremy Allen White. His first choice for director was Scott Cooper. Q. He got both. A. I credit Eric with having incredible instincts. They reached out to Scott Cooper. Scott said: ''Nebraska' is my favorite record.' Scott and I drafted a one-page description to send to Bruce and Jon. But then Bruce was diagnosed with a peptic ulcer. Q. Right, A. So we weren't going to push anything. Later, I was driving, and got a call from Bruce, totally unexpected, to ask about Q. Were you involved in the script-writing at all? A. No, that was Scott. I gave notes, but he understood this story. Q. When did casting start? A. Early on. Jeremy Allen White was a name that stayed from the time Eric mentioned him. Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in 20th Century Studios' "Deliver Me From Nowhere." Mark Seliger/Photo by Mark Seliger Q. What about Jeremy Strong? A. That was Scott. I initially didn't see it, but I think one of the biggest contributions to the film was bringing Strong in. Just the interaction between White and Strong — I can't say too much but it was very powerful. One of Scott's strengths is casting and he assembled a team that is, person to person, the best out there. Advertisement The first day of shooting, I got up at 6 a.m., made coffee, got dressed, walked to the set. I thought: 'Whatever happens, Warren, this is an amazing thing to be taking place.' But the gods look down on all this stuff. I show up to set, and see a row of directors chairs: Scott Cooper, Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen. Then I see my chair — but they spelled my name wrong. Q. [Laughs.] Perfect. I was surprised at how A . There was no hiding the fact that he was there on a regular basis. And there are difficult passages. He was going through some hard stuff, and here he was, watching his life being enacted, reliving it. I asked him, 'Is this as intense for you as it appears it might be?' And he said, 'Yes.' Q. I bet. Jeremy Allen White does his own singing. A. Yes. I got to hear some of it. Bruce weighed in publicly saying: This guy sounds great. Q. And Stephen Graham. Have you seen 'Adolescence'? A. I have. He was amazing to watch on set. Graham, visually, lined up with Bruce's dad. But when they called action, watching him get into his character — and watching him work with a very young actor — you knew you were watching somebody who came from a craft-based tradition. Q. He also co-wrote and co-created that series — those all-in-one-take episodes blew my mind. Especially Advertisement A. Graham, as a writer and actor, is clearly interested in the family. When he was playing Springsteen's father, I felt like I was watching him in a situation he understands personally. I don't know if that's the case. The turbulence of the domestic space is what 'Adolescence,' among other things, is about. And it's a big part of 'Deliver Me From Nowhere.' Q. The film trailer isn't online yet but it just debuted at an industry event. White said, 'The film tells the story of a very pivotal moment in Bruce's life, when he's struggling with the pressures of success and the ghosts of his past.' A. It's pretty moving. Some trailers, you don't see the narrative exposed in a way that allows you to understand what the film is about. But the trailer really succeeded. One difference between this film and most biopics is it doesn't start before success — it starts in the middle. You don't see that ascendancy. This film starts when Bruce has already had a number one album. It's a story about family history, mental health, and an already-successful artist facing a crisis. There's nothing about him making it. No 'Born to Run' moment. None of that. We see what he's haunted by. Q. That's interesting. I read where Strong says in the film, as Landau, 'Bruce is a repairman, and what he is doing with the song is repairing the hole in his floor that he holds in himself. … Once he's done that, he is going to repair the entire world.' Advertisement A. That's where this issue of casting is critical, because you need actors who can handle magnifying that subtlety. Q. TV shows where an actor's face tells a whole inner-turmoil: I'd think White in 'The Bear,' Strong in 'Succession,' and Graham in episode 1 of 'Adolescence' — how much weight they carried. A. Oh, man. I know. While I was watching this film being made, I was like: These are some faces. Interview has been edited and condensed. Lauren Daley can be reached at