Jeff Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, has opened up about being pitched a biopic about her late son starring Brad Pitt.
In an interview with Variety, Guibert remembered Pitt’s efforts to get a green light for the biopic in 2000. After the actor invited Guibert to lunch at his home and put her on the guest list for his wedding to Jennifer Aniston, she initially said yes.
However, Guibert soon became skeptical about Pitt being the right fit for the role. “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 told him.
The project eventually pivoted to an upcoming documentary titled It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley after director Amy Berg came aboard and had an epiphany while combing through Buckley’s archives.
“Once I started listening to his voicemail messages and his DAP player and demos and reading his journals, I just couldn’t imagine it being anything but a documentary,” Berg explained. “And I just didn’t know how you could kind of replicate Jeff in that scripted sense.”
Pitt remained involved in the project, serving as an executive producer and aiding in digitizing and preserving all of Buckley’s belongings.
Buckley was only 30 years old when he died in an accidental drowning in May 1997. Premiering at Sundance on January 24th, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley features interviews with Aimee Mann and Ben Harper, among others.
Last August marked the 30th anniversary of Buckley’s sole studio album, Grace.