For Stephen Graham, it’s been a big year for dad roles, starting with his part as the distraught parent of a tragically warped son in Netflix’s Adolescence — the 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.
The new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now digs into the making of that biopic (which stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen), with host Brian Hiatt talking to both Graham and director/screenwriter Scott Cooper. 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 for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. Here are some highlights from the Graham interview:
Bruce Springsteen personally approved Graham for the role.
“I was like, what? Bruce knows I exist?” Graham recalls. “And [director Scott Cooper] was like, ‘Look, I want you to play the role because of the gravity you will bring.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing it.’ And he went, ‘I haven’t sent you the script.’ I went, ‘You don’t need to.’”
Graham discovered a key to the character in conversations with Bruce.
“One 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’s perspective,” Graham says. “Whenever he spoke about his dad, there was a real sense of kind of gravity and dare I say, an element of fear — a little tiny bit — within his voice. So it was obviously the perception of the man that he perceived his father to be … So that’s what I based it on.”
Graham tried to balance the gravity of the role with watching over his young co-star, Matthew Anthony Pellicano, who played Bruce as a child.
“Don’t forget you’re 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,” Graham explains. “And a strong sense of foreboding, but yet, I’m with a kid who’s seven, and it’s his first time on a film, so I’ve gotta make it fun for him. So it’s that beautiful duality of the two things … You gotta make it lovely. You have an obligation ’cause you want him to try and do this thing again.”
Graham describes an almost mystical creative energy during the filming of a climactic reconciliation scene between Bruce and his dad.
“I don’t wanna sound pretentious, but there was an alchemy that existed within that space,” Graham says. “And 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’s a wonderful actor. He’s so committed. He embodies Bruce in a way that I think is, dare I say, shapeshifting.”
Bruce Springsteen was present for the darkest domestic scenes, but gave Graham space to work.
“Bruce didn’t get in the way whatsoever,” Graham says. “From 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’d just put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me and nod his head. And to me, that’s him telling me, ‘Thank you, well done.’ … 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, ‘Wow, that’s Doug.’ I was like, “Really?’ And there was this kind of a smile on his face.’”
Graham says any sequel to Adolescence won’t happen for a while.
“If we do decide to visit that world again at some later stage, it will be a completely different story,” says Graham. “I think that story is told within its entirety now. There’s nowhere else that that story can go. We managed to achieve our objective, which was to create conversation … 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.”
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or go here for the podcast provider of your choice. Check out nine years’ 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‘s critics and reporters.
Stephen Graham and Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Macall Polay/ 20th Century Studios
