“Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley will show his acting and singing chops in the soon to be released by Tribeca Films “Greetings from Tim Buckley.” It tells the tale of doomed rock star Jeff Buckley and (what was left of) his life before he performed at his father’s tribute concert in 1991.
Penn Badgley stars as Jeff, who released just one studio album before his death in 1997 at the age of 30 while Ben Rosenfield plays Tim, who died of a drug overdose at age 28; no doubt a vision of Rod Stewart warbling his “Reason to Believe” sent him over to the “other side.”
To say “Greetings from…” isn’t “Spinal Tap Pt. II” would be an understatement…unless it shows Tim explaining in “Spinal Tap” form how good his very last shot of heroin is: “I wouldn’t give this dime bag a 10. It’s an 11. One better than ten.”
No, when it comes to rock-u-mentaries, this one breaks the mold. Tim and Jeff are basically Bruce and Brandon Lee of rock. Both father-son couples died before they reached 35…and before they all commercially “blew up.” And, of course, if “Greetings from Tim Buckely” is a money-maker, here comes the spate of rock family dramas if father-son musicians like John and Julian Lennon or, Amy Winehouse and her wanna-be singing dad, Mitch. Casting could be tough for the inevitable Winehouse bio. Hollywood will no doubt cast a gorgeous gal like Jessica Biel and ugly her up to play Amy; much like they did to Charlize Theron when she played serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
But at least for all of these tragic stories, one good thing comes out of them: once the rock star(s) dies, that means no sequels!
Fortunately, Penn Badger has a non-rock star part lined up; playing in the ensemble movie “Parts per Billion” which will come out in 2014. He stars in this dramatic war film with Frank Langella, Rosario Dawson, Theresa Palmer and Gena Rowlands.
Perhaps for his next role, Blake Lively’s ex-squeeze can star and write a comedic movie called, “WTF Mom and Dad?” This would be about how Penn got his first name. As he related:
“My father was bouncing a Penn tennis ball for stress during my mom’s pregnancy. When my mother got her first amnio…she just casually mentioned that the baby is the size of that tennis ball, and that’s it. I’m glad it wasn’t Dunlop or Wilson.”
…or that he didn’t grow up to be as round as a tennis ball!
CLICK HERE for the Official website of “Greetings From Tim Buckley”