Bruce Springsteen tells the Telluride crowd that he will “save us from nowhere.”

Of all the panels and Q&As happening at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, perhaps the most anticipated featured a visit from Rock Royalty in the form of an unclaimed (but not awfully secret) appearance by Bruce Springsteen, following the second screening of the dramatic feature “Springsteen: Delivering Us From Anywhere.”

After getting closer to many other times to turn his life into a film, Springsteen had problems with the premise of the question, perhaps because he was asked why he said “yes” to this project. “Um, I don’t know what he has,” he laughed. Manager John Landau, sitting by him, had not jumped in to mention the number of movie queries he had failed to reach his client’s desk.

But “what brought this,” Springsteen continued. “I think we have very specific ideas. You know when certain records (“Nebraska”), and when I go through some difficult places in my life.

Springsteen shared the stage with Landau, Cooper and leading men, Jeremy Allen White (playing Springsteen in the early ’80s) and Jeremy Strong (drawn Landau) at Telluride’s 600-seat Palm Theatre.

White, whose vocal performances in the film are almost indistinguishable from the handful of vintage Springsteen recordings, also included in the spot, was asked about the challenge of recreating that tone.

“I remember when Scott and I were talking about the possibility of doing this, I said, “I don’t know how to sing, I don’t know how to play the guitar.” (But) he was certain. “We found it over time, and when I recorded most of the album “Nebraska” in RCA’s Nashville (before filming), it was a breakthrough for me. I think I found a lot of confidence in those sessions.

Cooper said White had the strength of vulnerability and credibility I saw in his work with Bruce and his archive interview with Bruce. Jeremy has two things that make up Bruce Springsteen for me: one is humility.

“It’s half the right,” Springsteen murmurs in response to laughter and applause.

White spoke about Springsteen’s duty to challenge the larynx, if not Springsteen’s biggest vocalist. (The song was ultimately not part of the “Nebraska” album, but it was still included in the film, as it was a demo of the Barebone Project before the decision was made to retain it for a completely rock-out production on the subsequent blockbuster album that was eventually named.)

“I met you guys later that night,” White told Springsteen and Landau, “Do you remember this? You guys came out with the ‘Road Diary’ (a recent Springsteen documentary). I spent the afternoon singing, “Born in America.” Song, and he said, “What did you do today?” I said.” And White came into the as troublesome voice as possible. “I said, ‘I was born in America.'”

Springsteen was asked about the scene (mild emotional spoilers ahead) that occurs near the end of the film. There, the artist’s father asks him to sit on his lap and sit behind the scenes at a gig.

“That happened,” the musician said. “My pop came to the show. We had Los Angeles movies saying exactly that. And I went backstage and he sat in that chair and said, ‘Sit on my lap.’ I said exactly what I said (in the film): “Dad, I’m 32.” “Now, come on.” That came directly from real life.

Another pivotal scene, in real life, did not happen in the way of film, but it created Springsteen’s imagination, or at least the literal drop of needles. This is a scene between Springsteen and Landau characters, ending with a performance of the Samcook Classic and not written like that.

Springsteen said: “Sam Cook’s scene beyond the ‘last mile’ was one of my favorite set pieces from the film, coming from Jeremy Strong and calling me the night before the scene was filmed in the bedroom and asked. Miles on the road. “And the next day they filmed the scene, and it was a testament to Jeremy’s strong insight and his unrelentingness… I think we talked all night on the phone that night, but what happened the next day was that beautiful music had entered the film, and the scene was one of my great favorites. ”

I explained strongly: “In the early days, John went to New Jersey and they listen to music together. And of course it’s a language, and of course the words can’t go any further. And in that scene I wanted to express that the words aren’t enough. And that’s obviously what I like about it. “Yes.” Then, “Jeremy (Allen White), do you want to know what it will be?” The other actor said no, he would be happy to be surprised at the moment.

Cooper talked about the film’s origins. “When I read the great book by Warren Zaneth, “From Nowhere, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska production” – if you haven’t read it, if you haven’t read his Tom Petty biography, I recommended it… Reading the great memoirs of Bruce, in the great memoirs of Bruce, the shortest chapter in the book is “Nebraska,” and when I was thinking about it, and I was thinking about it. “Listen, this record was a part of my life long before your book.” My father, who started filming this film, introduced me to many things, including my father and son.

“Bruce was able to talk much better than me, but that was one of his lowest periods. I was interested in a man sitting alone in a bedroom with a four-track recorder facing this unsolved trauma and mental health illness.

“And I knew this was a film I had to make, and as I was talking to the record executive (about putting out “Nebraska”), like that scene where John Landau was in his office, I told myself, I knew this would be a real commercial risk.

Springsteen spoke with her younger sister Pamela, who is considered a young man in many black and white flashback scenes depicting her upbringing in Freehold, New Jersey, about seeing the film’s first screening the night before.

“I was able to watch the film with my sister from a year who is just a little blonde girl in the movie, but she was actually a girl with a little brown short hair. But she sat with me and watched the film and she held my hand.