Three years after Austin Butler played Elvis Presley in 2022s Elvis, he and Jeremy Allen White discussed the boundaries they had to navigate while playing real people in light of the latters portrayal of Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming movie Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

During a conversation for Interview magazines fall 2025 cover story, published Tuesday, Butler brought up what its like to play private moments in the personal lives of characters based on real people. I remember having moments early on where I was going, Vocally, is this something Elvis wouldve said? Is this how his voice wouldve been?' he recalled of his experience playing Presley.

Butler went on to say that the experience becomes a boundary. He continued, And then at a certain point you blow the roof off and its your soul and his soul merging in some way. I know exactly what youre talking about, White said before revealing he had a similar experience while portraying Springsteen. I can look at his performances, and I can watch interviews, but these are public versions. Theyre performative in some sense. No matter how honest you are when youre talking to the press, thats not how youre going to talk to your mother.

White continued, I was running into the same thing where I was like, Does this sound or look like him? Because I had all this footage I could go off of, but you dont know what this man looks like alone in a house. Theres more freedom, but then youre questioning that freedom. Its exactly what you said. At a certain point, you let go and hope that whatever feeling youre getting close to at least held hands with Bruces feeling.

Another topic the actors discussed was how they managed to find inspiration for their characters.

While Butler wasnt able to to personally get to know the late Presley, he said he benefited from filming Elvis away from home in Australia. I was fortunate to be far from the life that I lived on a day-to-day basis, because I was in Australia. And then COVID happened, so the entire world was a different place, he said. It allowed me to immerse myself in the delusion a little bit more than I wouldve otherwise.

Whites experience of playing Springsteen was much different because the musician was present for much of filming, and they also got to know each other outside of set.

Bruce was a producer on the film, and he and his manager, Jon Landau, who Jeremy Strong plays in the film, were both around quite a bit. Theyve had this beautiful relationship for so long, and theyve been so in control of Bruces career, of his image, of every aspect of his public life, he said. It makes total sense why these guys would want to be around as much as they were because I think its the first little bit of control that theyve ever given up, to Scott [Cooper], our director, and to me and to everybody. And so I totally understand him wanting to be there.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere will debut in theaters on Oct. 24.