Most recently, the neon-soaked New Jersey noir Ponyboi, written by and starring River Gallo as an intersex sex worker working at a laundromat who finds themself on the run after a drug deal on Valentine’s Day goes bad, was inspired by the work of the Boss. While writing the screenplay, Gallo, also from New Jersey, was reading Springsteen’s autobiography and told The L.A. Times that while walking past Stone Pony, the venue in Asbury Park where Springsteen has performed since his early days, thought, “Stone pony, stone pony, pony, pony, pony boy, ponyboi. That’s a good name.” (Springsteen also has a song entitled ‘Pony Boy’ on his album Human Touch.)
Gallo said they felt a kinship to Springsteen, sharing, “There’s so much of what I see in Bruce Springsteen in my father and also just in how Bruce Springsteen describes his relationship with his dad, who was also a man who couldn’t express his emotions.” At one point in the film, Gallo’s character even sings a duet of Springsteen’s song ‘I’m on Fire’ with a mysterious cowboy named Bruce (Murray Bartlett).
