Last week, Hollywood Life had an “exclusive” that I just didn’t want to believe. They claimed that out of all of the young actors in Hollywood and beyond, producers had chosen Gossip Girl also-ran Penn Badgley to play the late Jeff Buckley. The role of Buckley was supposed to go to someone like James Franco, or Robert Pattinson, or my beloved Fassbender. Anyway, I thought it was just a rumor started by Penn’s publicist, but now the truth comes out, and it’s both good and bad. First, the bad: Penn is going to be playing Jeff Buckley. The good news: He won’t be playing Buckley in the artsy Jeff Buckly bio-pic that Sparkles and Franco are currently in contention for. No, Penn got the Jeff Buckley role in a film called Greetings from Tim Buckley, all about Jeff Buckley’s strained relationship with his father Tim. While I’m glad Penn wasn’t selected for the big bio-pic, I still don’t think he’s capable of pulling this off:

New York, NY (June 20, 2011) – Smuggler Films announced today Penn Badgley will star in the much anticipated film Greetings from Tim Buckley. He will play Tim Buckley’s son Jeff in the first film to be made about the musicians. There has been much speculation regarding the casting of Jeff Buckley as many of Hollywood’s hottest stars were interested in playing one of the most remarkable music artists of his generation.

Greetings from Tim Buckley was written by Dan Algrant, Emma Sheanshang and David Brendel and will be directed by Dan Algrant (People I Know, Naked in New York).

Greetings from Tim Buckley follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s eminent 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church. Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him. Culminating in a cathartic performance of his father’s most famous songs, Jeff’s debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time.

Penn Badgley said, “To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood & mythologized as a human being… It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project.”

Patrick Milling Smith of Smuggler Films. “In its purest form this is a father and son story, a rite of passage that is made possible by a romantic journey Jeff finds himself on. We see Jeff accepting who he is to become and laying to rest the ghost of his father while ultimately finding his voice. We had been searching well over a year for an actor that can come close to Jeff’s spirit while also having the serious musical chops required to authentically tell this story. Penn’s audition blew us away and we knew we found our star.”

[From The Huffington Post]

Ugh, so who will play Tim Buckley? I guess he hasn’t been cast yet. While I think this is a great premise for a film – I’m being serious – I have very serious doubts about how Penn is going to mess this up. We’ll see, won’t we?

Imagine if we get to have a side-by-side comparison of Penn as Buckley and Robert Pattinson as Buckley. I have to say… I still don’t think Sparkles would be terrible as Buckley.

Photos courtesy of WENN.