{"id":99593,"date":"2025-10-26T22:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T22:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/99593\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T22:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T22:26:08","slug":"stephen-graham-on-playing-bruce-springsteens-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/99593\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Graham on Playing Bruce Springsteen’s Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor Stephen Graham<\/a>, it\u2019s been a big year for dad roles, starting with his part as the distraught parent of a tragically warped son in Netflix\u2019s Adolescence \u2014\u00a0the culture-shaking show he also co-created. He gives an equally strong performance as a very different father, the troubled Douglas Springsteen, in the new film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now digs into the making of that biopic (which stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen<\/a>), with host Brian Hiatt talking to both Graham and director\/screenwriter Scott Cooper<\/a>. In his interview, Graham discusses how he prepared for the role, his interactions with Bruce Springsteen on set, and much more. To hear the whole episode, go here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>, or just press play above. Here are some highlights from the Graham interview:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBruce Springsteen personally approved Graham for the role.
\u201cI was like, what? Bruce knows I exist?\u201d Graham recalls. \u201cAnd [director Scott Cooper] was like, \u2018Look, I want you to play the role because of the gravity you will bring.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m doing it.\u2019 And he went, \u2018I haven\u2019t sent you the script.\u2019 I went, \u2018You don\u2019t need to.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham discovered a key to the character in conversations with Bruce.
\u201cOne of the biggest things was when I first met Bruce, he was completely unaware, but what he did was he changed the tone of his voice whenever he spoke from his father\u2019s perspective,\u201d Graham says. \u201cWhenever he spoke about his dad, there was a real sense of kind of gravity and dare I say, an element of fear \u2014\u00a0a little tiny bit \u2014\u00a0within his voice. So it was obviously the perception of the man that he perceived his father to be \u2026 So that\u2019s what I based it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGraham tried to balance the gravity of the role with watching over his young co-star, Matthew Anthony Pellicano, who played Bruce as a child. \u00a0
\u201cDon\u2019t forget you\u2019re waiting between takes, and you have the severity and the depth and the gravitas of the character that you play in a man with deep thoughts in his head,\u201d Graham explains. \u201cAnd a strong sense of foreboding, but yet, I\u2019m with a kid who\u2019s seven, and it\u2019s his first time on a film, so I\u2019ve gotta make it fun for him. So it\u2019s that beautiful duality of the two things \u2026 You gotta make it lovely. You have an obligation \u2019cause you want him to try and do this thing again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tGraham describes an almost mystical creative energy during the filming of a climactic reconciliation scene between Bruce and his dad.
\u201cI don\u2019t wanna sound pretentious, but there was an alchemy that existed within that space,\u201d Graham says. \u201cAnd we just went into it. And me and Jeremy barely spoke to each other. But there was this huge kind of connection and this kind of feeling that we had. Jeremy\u2019s a wonderful actor.\u00a0 He\u2019s so committed.\u00a0 He embodies Bruce in a way that I think is, dare I say, shapeshifting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBruce Springsteen was present for the darkest domestic scenes, but gave Graham space to work.
\u201cBruce didn\u2019t get in the way whatsoever,\u201d Graham says. \u201cFrom my perspective, he was just another fount of knowledge that I could tap into if I wanted to. Maybe occasionally at the end of a scene or something, he\u2019d just put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me and nod his head. And to me, that\u2019s him telling me, \u2018Thank you, well done.\u2019 \u2026 One of the most beautiful moments is when we were filming the scene where the kids run through the field and that huge house on the hill. And having him come over to me and just go, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s Doug.\u2019 I was like, \u201cReally?\u2019 And there was this kind of a smile on his face.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tGraham says any sequel to Adolescence won\u2019t happen for a while.
\u201cIf we do decide to visit that world again at some later stage, it will be a completely different story,\u201d says Graham. \u201cI think that story is told within its entirety now. There\u2019s nowhere else that that story can go. We managed to achieve our objective, which was to create conversation \u2026 To be a part of something that raises consciousness and the awareness was just unfathomable to be honest with you. And I feel very humbled and extremely blessed to be a part of something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tDownload and subscribe to\u00a0Rolling Stone\u2018s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>, or go here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice. Check out nine years\u2019 worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with artists including Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone\u2018s critics and reporters.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tStephen Graham and Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMacall Polay\/ 20th Century Studios<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Stephen Graham, it\u2019s been a big year for dad roles, starting with his part as the distraught…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19633,65015,146,85,46,66148,63236,6830],"class_list":{"0":"post-99593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bruce-springsteen","9":"tag-deliver-me-from-nowhere","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-scott-cooper","14":"tag-springsteen-deliver-me-from-nowhere","15":"tag-stephen-graham"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}