Of the two actors set to portray tragically short-lived singing/songwriting prodigy Jeff Buckley in upcoming biopics—Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley in Greetings From Tim Buckley and Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark star Reeve Carney in the untitled, family estate-approved film—I have to imagine the pressure to properly evoke, emulate and/or do justice to Jeff's extremely unique and gripping voice has to be a little lighter on the former, seeing as that film (from what I understand) will largely focus on Jeff's relationship with his father, folk staple Tim Buckley… and isn't licensed to feature any Jeff Buckley music.
Perhaps feeling obligated to prove himself to the world… or at least a small crowd of New York City music club goers, in true Jeff Buckley Fashion… Badgley appeared at the Cameo Gallery this past weekend, opening up for the Cribs' Ryan Jarman and showing off his versions of a few Jeff Buckley staples. Check out his less-disappointing-than-you'd-think take on "Lilac Wine" below.
Okay, so it goes without saying that this is not Jeff Buckley. What is, right? That said, Dan Humphrey Penn Badgley does have a pretty good (albeit slightly lower) voice in his own right and although he doesn't come close to the hairs-on-my-arm chills of the Buckley version, he definitely taps into some of the umph and grrrr that informed Jeff's performance. It's no American Idol style cover—he's actually living in, stretching out and working with the guts of the song in the same way Jeff would. Am I devastated that we won't hear any of this in the film? Not too much… partly because I know Reeve Carney has the chops and the know-how… but it's a welcome relief to hear him really inhabiting the part and doing justice to maybe my favorite singer of all time. Kudos, sir! I'm still never, ever going to watch another episode of Gossip Girl so long as I live, though.
What do you guys think of Penn Badgley's pretty good Jeff Buckley impression? Get the conversation started in our comments section below.
Comments (4)