Bruce Springsteen delivered a surprise performance after the New York Film Festival premiere of “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the “Nebraska”-centered biopic starring Jeremy Allen White as the Boss.
The film, out Oct. 24 via 20th Century Studios, made a big splash in Manhattan, where Springsteen joined White and his co-stars Jeremy Strong, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young and Gaby Hoffman on-stage at Alice Tully Hall.
Before performing “Land of Hopes and Dreams” on an acoustic guitar, Springsteen spoke about the film, thanking White for “playing a much better-looking version of me.” Ribbing his longtime manager Jon Landau, Springsteen went on to thank Strong for playing a “much, much better-looking version of Jon.”
The rock legend also honored his late parents, Douglas “Dutch” Springsteen and Adele Springsteen, who are portrayed by Graham and Hoffman in the movie. “They’re all gone now, so it’s nice to have this piece of film,” Springsteen said.
After a string of thank-yous, Springsteen offered: “These days we have daily events reminding us of the fact that we’re living through these particularly dangerous times. I spent my life on the road, moving around the world as kind of a musical ambassador for America … trying to measure the distance between American reality, where we’ve often fallen short of our ideals.”
He added, “But for a lot of folks out there, she continues to be a land of hope and dreams, not of fear or divisiveness or government censorship or hatred.”
Watch a clip of Springsteen’s surprise New York Film Festival performance below.
