Reeve Carney Talks Portraying Jeff Buckley on Film!

As reported earlier this week, actor/singer-songwriter Reeve Carney (Broadway's Spiderman: Turn off the Dark) has been cast as Jeff Buckley in the forthcoming "Untitled Jeff Buckley" film, it was announced by the filmmakers. Carney told Billboard about the project: "I think we're all on the same page in wanting to make something that honors Jeff's life and his legacy. There's something about Jeff -- there's so much mystery surrounding his existence. He just had this... mystic quality, that's similar to what James Dean had."

He continued: "I went in for the film auditions multiple times over two months, and Mary called me and told me, 'We'd like you to be our Jeff.' It was a very meaningful moment for me, having his mother call me and say that to me."

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To be directed by Jake Scott (Welcome to the Rileys), and written by Ryan Jaffe (story by, The Rocker), the filmmakers hold a robust rights package that includes the exclusive rights to Jeff's music and personal archives, and is fully supported by Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, who serves as executive producer. Michelle Sy (Finding Neverland) and OrIan Williams (Control) are producing, with Alison Raykovich (Jeff Buckley Music) serving as associate producer. Producers are currently out to additional cast for the project.

The film will chronicle the life of Buckley, one of the most critically acclaimed musical artists of his time, who died tragically at age 30 in a drowning accident in Memphis, Tennessee's Wolf River. Production will commence in New York and Memphis in November.

Carney currently stars on Broadway as Peter Parker in the high profile production of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark. Reeve also co-starred in Julie Taymor's THE TEMPEST for Miramax. His current single, "Rise Above 1 featuring Bono and The Edge" (Music From SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark), was performed by the trio on the season finale of American Idol this year. In addition, Reeve and his band Carney opened for U2 on the last stop of the U2 360° tour. Their debut album Mr. Green Vol. 1 is available on DAS Label/Interscope.

Buckley's only studio release during his lifetime was the widely acclaimed album Grace, which includes his legendary interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and is acknowledged by critics as a modern classic. His momentous posthumous album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal for the song "Everybody Here Wants You." Captivated by the world of music, Buckley lived and breathed it until the last moments of his life. He had said, "I was captured by music at a really early age...It was my mother, it was my father, it was my plaything, my toy. The best thing in my life."

Reeve is represented by Paradigm and David Sonenberg for DAS Communications, Ltd.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos