Penn Badgley praised for live vocals in Jeff Buckley biopic

Anthrax rocker Frank Bello has heaped praise on actor Penn Badgley for agreeing to sing live for his role as Jeff Buckley in a new biopic about the late star. Badgley plays the tragic musician in Greetings from Tim Buckley and his portrayal has been given the seal of approval from his co-star Bello, who plays punk icon Richard Hell in the upcoming movie.
The Anthrax bassist says, “I was a Jeff Buckley fan, and (Badgley) had b**ls of steel to do the singing and get the acoustic (guitar) and just go for it.”
Badgley brushed up on his guitar skills for the role and even played a gig in Brooklyn, New York, last summer (Aug12) to prepare for the part, but admits he had very little rehearsal time due to clashes with his work on TV series Gossip Girl.
He explains, “It would’ve been hard to do without the live performance, even if I’d done singing afterward or recorded it before, which is more common… It would’ve stolen everything we had going for us with the vibe. It was almost impossible to rehearse – we often had no time.”
Badgley’s film about the Hallelujah hitmaker, who drowned in a river in 1997 at the age of 30, is one of several upcoming projects about Buckley – Broadway star Reeve Carney is also set to appear in a separate biopic.