Bruce Springsteen, 75, leaves Netflix Adolescence star in tears with sweet gesture over biopic role
Adolescence star Stephen Graham has revealed he was moved to tears after receiving a heartfelt text message from Bruce Springsteen.
The 51-year-old, who portrays Springsteen’s late father Douglas “Dutch” Springsteen in the upcoming biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere, described it as “the most gorgeous text” he had ever received in his life.
Graham is fresh off portraying another father, Eddie Miller, a man whose life becomes “an ordinary family’s worst nightmare” after his 13-year-old son Jamie (Owen Cooper) is accused of murdering a female classmate in Netflix’s critically acclaimed series.
The emotional message came after Springsteen, 75, watched Graham’s performance on set.
Graham said the text meant more to him than “any award that I could ever receive in my life”.
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Speaking on Soundtracking with Edith Bowman, Graham shared the emotional content of Springsteen’s message.
“His text just said, ‘Thank you so much. You know, my father passed away a while ago and I felt like I saw him today and thank you for giving me that memory’,” Graham revealed.
The actor was overwhelmed by the personal nature of the feedback.
“I was crying reading the text, do you know what I mean? Oh mate. It was beautiful. You couldn’t ask for anything more, you know, to share that with someone was gorgeous. He’s a lovely man,” he said.
Graham described Springsteen as “a working-class hero” and “an icon to thousands, to millions”.
The film, directed by Scott Cooper, stars Jeremy Allen White as “the Boss” and Jeremy Strong as his manager and record producer.
Deliver Me from Nowhere follows Springsteen’s career after his breakout 1982 album Nebraska, which sold more than one million copies in the US alone.
Graham plays Springsteen’s father during the 1980s, a role that required him to wear prosthetics.
Graham spoke highly of his co-star Jeremy Allen White, comparing the experience to working with Hollywood legends.
“Working with him is like working with the presence of Al Pacino and De Niro back in the day,” Graham said, who worked with the legendary actors in 2019’s The Irishman.
He described White as “marvellous” and “unbelievable”.
“He’s brilliant, but he’s a wonderful man as well,” Graham added.
The 51-year-old recalled phoning his dad to tell him he was going to be working with De Niro and Pacino.
He remembered: “I went, ‘Dad, you’ll never guess who I’m going to be working with,’ and he’s like, ‘Who?’ and I went, ‘Marty’s asked me to do a film again,’ and he’s like, ‘That’s amazing son!’
“And I went, ‘Yeah’,” as he became tearful, Graham admitted: “Woah…I’ve gone!”
Rubbing tears from his eyes, he continued: “My dad… You know, he proper backed me. And my mum. They supported me throughout everything.”