Jeff Buckley Doc Reveals Why a Biopic Starring Brad Pitt Was Nixed by the Musician’s Mom: ‘You’re Going to Open Your Mouth and Jeff’s Voice Is Going to Come Out?’
variety.comTatiana Siegel For more than two decades, filmmakers chased the lightning-in-a-bottle story of Jeff Buckley, one of the most gifted and promising musicians of his generation, who drowned in a Memphis river in May 1997 at the age of 30.
Back in 2000, Brad Pitt courted Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, inviting her to lunch at his Los Feliz home and adding her to the VIP guest list for his wedding to Jennifer Aniston.
It didn’t require much arm-twisting before she granted the actor permission to make a biopic about her son, the tortured singer-songwriter who is best known for performing the greatest version ever of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” “If there’s 20 people calling you, and Brad Pitt is one of them, who are you gonna pick to go see?” Guibert says with a laugh.
But Guibert was skeptical about the idea of Pitt, or any actor for that matter, tackling the role of her only child. “We’re going to dye your hair, put brown contact lenses on those baby blues, and you’re going to open your mouth and Jeff’s voice is going to come out?” she asked Pitt.
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