Scott Cooper, the director of the Bruce Springsteen biopic, just shared what the movie is about.
On Sunday, September 28, the 55-year-old American filmmaker and former actor attended the New York Film Festival premiere of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, where he chatted with PEOPLE magazine.
Cooper told the outlet that the forthcoming biopic, which stars Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen, will “shed light” on the celebrated singer-songwriter and guitarist’s mental illness and the struggles he is facing.
He said, “This is probably his most painful chapter, most vulnerable chapter of his life.”
The director of Hostiles added, “He was just coming off of The River tour to great acclaim and success. Instead of chasing the roar of arenas and hit singles, he had the courage to look inward and face a lot of unresolved trauma that he had dealt with.”
Cooper went on to note that what came from this self-reflection “is — well, I think — his best album and one of the best albums of the last 50 years.”
He stated, “So to be able to tell that story and to shed light on Bruce’s mental illness, my hope is that folks who are struggling and don’t know how to get the help or the will to help will see that this is a very relatable story and will seek the help they need.”
The creator believes that seeing Springsteen “going into therapy will hopefully destigmatize” the negative notion attached to therapy, especially for men.
“We didn’t speak about it really because it isn’t a message movie about mental illness, but I think it’s a part of his creative process and when you see his creative process is about mining this unresolved trauma from his childhood that we all have in one form or another.”
“I think it’s a very relatable and powerful story, but it isn’t a message movie. There’s a lot of music in the film, but it just happens to be his record Nebraska and not Born in the USA,” Cooper remarked.
It is pertinent to mention that Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is scheduled to be released on October 24, 2025.
