Brad Pitt once had plans to star as the late musician Jeff Buckley in a biopic nearly two decades ago. In 2000, after inviting Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, to his wedding to Jennifer Aniston, Pitt sought her permission to portray her son on screen, and although initially she agreed, she later had second thoughts.
Brad Pitt wanted to make a biopic about Jeff Buckley but his mother rejected it
“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?” pic.twitter.com/ouAKqzTwvi
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) January 24, 2025
Mary Guibert Opens Up on Her Hesitation
Recently, at the Sundance Film Festival, Guibert revealed why she ultimately hesitated to greenlight the biopic. Reflecting on the decision, Guibert recalled wondering,”If there’s 20 people calling you, and Brad Pitt is one of them, who are you gonna pick to go see?”
She also questioned how Pitt could embody Jeff, famously asking, “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?”
Guibert Shifted to a Documentary Instead
Though she pulled back from the biopic, Guibert and Pitt remained in touch over the years. Eventually, she opted for a different approach to honor her son’s legacy, deciding to make a documentary instead.
The result, ‘It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,’ premiered at Sundance this past weekend. The documentary, executive produced by Brad Pitt, captures Buckley’s essence and showcases his remarkable career, including his iconic cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and his 1994 album ‘Grace.’
Preserving Jeff Buckley’s Legacy Through Digital Archives
Guibert worked closely with director Amy Berg on the project, which also involved preserving Buckley’s personal items and digitizing them, a task Pitt helped with.
“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 said. “I just didn’t know how you could kind of replicate Jeff in that scripted sense.”
Berg explained that the documentary will also address the mystery surrounding Buckley’s tragic death at 30 in 1997, when he drowned in a Memphis river. She noted that while there was speculation about a possible overdose, this was far from the truth.
“One of the great things about Jeff Buckley is you discover him when you’re meant to discover him,” Berg said about his legacy. “He has definitely made a big impact on TikTok, where I was surprised to see that he has more followers on the Jeff Buckley hashtag than even Bob Dylan. He’s definitely having another moment in pop culture history.”
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