Jeremy Allen White ‘Shutting Out Anything That Could Become a Distraction’ Amid Career Success (Exclusive) 

Jeremy Allen White’s friends worry that he’s gotten progressively more reclusive and too laser-focused on his work amid his continued rise to superstardom over the past few years, according to a source.

“He definitely realizes how high the stakes have gotten around his career. He’s taking the job incredibly seriously, and shutting out anything that could become a distraction,” a source exclusively tells the Globe.

“It’s not an act. It really is like Jeremy is from a different time, and that sets him apart from other actors even if they’re around his age,” explains the source. “It makes him hard to get to know, for sure.”

While White, 34, does have a circle of friends, the source says that “socializing with him is almost never lighthearted” in recent years. The father of two – who shares daughters Ezer Billie, 6, and Dolores Wild, 4, with ex Addison Timlin – is “massively talented,” having earned two Primetime Emmy awards for his role in The Bear, but the source says it’s as if “the fun has almost totally drained out of his life” since he hit it big.

“This is not a guy who you can kick back and watch a football game with,” the source continues. “He’s on a trajectory where he could eventually become one of the most important actors of his generation, and he’s carrying that burden around with him even when he isn’t shooting something or getting deeper into one of his characters.”

In White’s defense, the source argued that “the results are up there on the screen,” as the former Shameless star has been wildly successful throughout his career. However, it’s unclear “how sustainable this all-in approach is in the long term.”

This comes ahead of the October 24 premiere of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. In the highly anticipated biopic, White plays the role of a young Bruce Springsteen as he dreams up his sixth studio album, Nebraska.

Springsteen, who was sometimes on set during filming, joked that White was “very, very tolerant of me the days that I would appear,” in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

“And it was just fun,” he added. “It was enjoyable.”

However, Springsteen admitted he did avoid the set on the days when they were shooting scenes that depicted “deeply personal” moments from his past.

“I mean, there’s some unusualness to it,” he said, “because the movie involves, in some ways, some of the most painful days of my life.”