Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. Macall Polay/20th Century Studios Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment As Tod Maitland began the sound-mixing process for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, he knew he had to go right to the

Source: the Boss himself.

"We talked right from the get-go, finding out if he was using headphones during his sessions, how Bruce worked with the microphones, how he recorded the takes. Bruce was very involved; he really wanted this thing to sound exactly like what he did," explains Maitland, a six-time Oscar nominee for best sound. The process was the polar opposite of Maitland's previous film, James Mangold's Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, for which he never met the elusive rock legend. But tasked with helping replicate Nebraska, the most intimate album of Springsteen's career, Maitland found that extra access vital. Related Stories Movies Why 'Frankenstein' Prosthetic Designer Mike Hill Didn't Want the Creature to "Look Like a Monster" Business Film Academy Grows Oscars Revenue to $150 Million As It Trims Expenses Unlike in the usual musical biopic, where the hero is often depicted performing anthems before thousands of screaming fans in a crowd, most of Deliver Me From Nowhere shows Springsteen, played by Jeremy Allen White, in solitude, with little more than a guitar, harmonica and raw vocals as he lays his soul bare. The setting gave Maitland his biggest challenge, leaving very little room for smoke and mirrors or any margin of error. "That was the most important part of it: There's not much to distract you from the guitar and the voice. Focusing on those two elements, that's the main job," he says. "You're making a movie, but we're making an album at the same time. And when you make an album, you focus on every little nuance. With A Complete Unknown, we had many things happening at the same time, except for a couple of scenes, but here, except for those moments inside the power plant and onstage, we really don't have much of that." Aside from consulting Springsteen, Maitland studied Nebraska himself, choosing period-appropriate mics to record with and even running recordings through his present-day equipment and an old TEAC recorder so they could have that same "out of sync" quality as vintage cassette recordings for reference. Maitland says director Scott Cooper "never wanted it to be just Jeremy or just Bruce [for the vocals]. He wanted it to be Jeremy with this haunting Bruce element to it throughout everything." This story first appeared in a November stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Heat Vision 'Avengers: Endgame' to Be Re-Released in 2026 Ahead of 'Avengers: Doomsday' (Exclusive) Behind The Screen Why 'Frankenstein' Prosthetic Designer Mike Hill Didn't Want the Creature to "Look Like a Monster" Victor Garber Victor Garber Recalls Historic 1972 Toronto 'Godspell' Staging as "Lightening In a Bottle" Wikileaks How 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Reframes the Saga of Julian Assange: 'THR Frontrunners' Q&A With Director Eugene Jarecki and Producer Kathleen Fournier Saudi Arabia Jessica Alba Reveals Why She Wants to Produce, Offers Thoughts on 'Fantastic Four' Films Critics Choice Awards Critics Choice Awards Nominations: 'Sinners' Leads With 17 Nods Heat Vision 'Avengers: Endgame' to Be Re-Released in 2026 Ahead of 'Avengers: Doomsday' (Exclusive) Behind The Screen Why 'Frankenstein' Prosthetic Designer Mike Hill Didn't Want the Creature to "Look Like a Monster" Victor Garber Victor Garber Recalls Historic 1972 Toronto 'Godspell' Staging as "Lightening In a Bottle" Wikileaks How 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Reframes the Saga of Julian Assange: 'THR Frontrunners' Q&A With Director Eugene Jarecki and Producer Kathleen Fournier Saudi Arabia Jessica Alba Reveals Why She Wants to Produce, Offers Thoughts on 'Fantastic Four' Films Critics Choice Awards Critics Choice Awards Nominations: 'Sinners' Leads With 17 Nods