Jeff Buckley Biopic Gets a Leading Man—and It Isn't Robert Pattinson!

Actor Reeve Carney get the job the Twilight star was interested in

By Ted Casablanca, John Boone Aug 15, 2011 10:05 PMTags
Robert PattinsonJeff Buckley, Reeve CarneyDennis Van Tine/LFI/Zuma Images; Bob Berg/Getty Images; Marc Stamas/Getty Images

You know how there are two Snow White flicks competing for the spotlight?

Well, same goes for the biopic of the late singer Jeff Buckley. And while the fairy-tale flicks are both ramping up to be amusing, pop-corn fodder, the two Buckley films are destined to be angst-driven and, well, über-depressing.

The perfect subject matter for one British thesp Robert Pattinson, no? Well unfortch for the Twilight star, he won't be croonin' on the big screen anytime soon...

The first Buckley role went to Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley.

But now the second part open as the talented performer has gone to actor Reeve Carney.

All together now: Who?

You probably haven't heard of much about Reeve's work, but get this: He was Spider-Man! Not on the big screen, but R.C. has been spinning webs as the Spidey superhero in the (formerly très troubled) Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.

And he's definitely got the seal of approval from Buckley's mama, which matters, seeing as she's exec producing the pic. Mary Guibert says, "We are over the moon that Reeve has agreed to take on this challenging role. He's been getting ready for this all his life. It certainly doesn't hurt that he looks so much like Jeff."

And the film's director, Jake Scott, is also onboard, gushing, "We are excited to have found in Reeve the perfect combination of musical prodigy, impish charm, innate intelligence and sensitivity to play Jeff."

Everyone's excited, it seems, except R.Pattz!

If the director's name sounds familiar, it's ‘cause Jake directed Welcome to the Riley's, starring none other than Kristen Stewart. You would think Rob's GF may have put in a good word for him...

‘Cause he made no secret that he was very interested in the part, even meeting with the film's producers and Guibert herself. And even though we momentarily thought his dream had gone down the drain when Badgley linked up with the other J.B. biopic, we were gunnin' for Rob on this one.

Oh well!

We wonder how Rob's gonna spend his time now, seeing as K.Stew is across the pond filming in London.

Anyway, good luck on the movie, Reeve! And good luck in general, Rob!