Jeremy Strong is currently in negotiations to play Bruce Springsteen's manager Jon Landau in the upcoming biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, Variety exclusively reported.
The succession star is in talks to possibly join Jeremy Allen White who will play The Boss in the 20th Century movie about the singer and his time in making the 19892 album Nebraska.
Scott Cooper will direct and write the movie based on Warren Zane's 2023 book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska.
Will Jeremy Strong be playing The Boss' manager?
The album followed Springsteen's 1980 The River. Most expected Nebraska to be a hit rock record with his E Street Band. However, it turned out to be a stripped-down solo on a classic four-track recorder. The book follows the story of how Springsteen recorded the album.
Both Springsteen and Landau are involved in making the film. Production is expected to start in the fall.
Disney Live Action and 20th Century studios president David Greenbaum said, “It is a once-in-a-lifetime honor to be collaborating with Bruce Springsteen, an inspiring and incomparable artist who represents so much to so many. The deep authenticity of his story is in great hands with my friend Scott Cooper whom I am thrilled to be collaborating with once again.”
Strong was recently nominated for a Tony Award, his first, in this year's Broadway revival of the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People. Before that, he was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for his role in Succession as Kendall Roy. He won the award in 2020 for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.
He will next be seen in the upcoming movie The Apprentice, which is set to premiere in this year's Cannes Film Festival. Strong plays notorious fixer and lawyer Roy Cohn opposite Sebastian Stan's young Donald Trump.
Who is Jon Landau?
Landau is worked with Springsteen as his manager and record producer. He is currently the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's head of the nominating committee. In 2020, he was honored with the Ahmet Ertegun Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In a 1974 The Real Paper article, Landau who was working as a music critic at the time wrote, “I saw rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen!” Author Nick Hornby wrote in The New York Times 2004 opinion piece that this was one of the reasons that launched the singer's popularity. However, the article was also lampooned by others.
This didn't stop Springsteen from hiring Landau. He has since been cited as co-producers on the rocker's studio records from 1975's Born to Run to 1992's Human Touch and Lucky Town. That's almost two decades of his having influence on Springsteen both artistically and professionally.
Landau has also managed and/or produced for other artists such as Jackson Browne, Alejandro Escovedo, MC5, Natalie Merchant, Livingston Taylor, Train and Shania Twain.
He has also handled the liner notes for Aretha Franklin's 2015 The Atlantic Albums Collection, Otis Redding's Soul Manifesto: 1964-1970 and Wilson Pickett's 2017 The Complete Atlantic Albums Collection.
Liner notes used to contain a mix of factual or anecdotal ideas and usually an artist's discography. Sometimes, they also function as signed essays from the artists themselves, however, this custom has largely been out of fashion.
Nowadays, these include facts about the musician, their lyrics or more commonly their “thanks to” list.
Due to Landau's relationship — both professional and personal — to these artists, and most especially Springsteen, it's not difficult to imagine how many times his name has appeared on the liner notes. And now, he'll be appearing in The Boss' first biopic — or at least through Strong.
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