If you think of Penn Badgley in terms of Dan Humphrey, the character he played for five years on the CW Network's Gossip Girl, prepare to have your world rocked. The actor is about to make the transition from television to film look easy with a big performance in a small film: Greetings From Tim Buckley, which opens in New York and Los Angeles on May 3 and in other select markets later that month. Badgley plays Jeff Buckley, the remarkably talented musical artist known for his album Grace and a much-adored interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", who, like his singer/songwriter father in the movie's title, died much too young. more »
Thrash metal god Frank Bells says Penn Badgley nailed his portrayal of the late singer Jeff Buckley in Greetings From Tim Buckley — and he's one to know. As unlikely as it may seem, the Anthrax bassist, who plays punk icon Richard Hell in the movie, is, as he put it, "a Jeff Buckley diehard forever." And after seeing the film for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday night, Bello was singing Badgley's praises. more »
Sibling rivalry in pre-war Central California, the American dream, and... dick jokes? John Steinbeck's dusty, angsty 1952 opus East of Eden is a staple tome known to every Lit major on earth, but the tale of two brothers caught up in family dramarama hasn't been told quite like it is in Victor Quinaz's new short film (exec produced by Zachary Quinto), premiering today at the Hollyshorts Film Fest. Buoyed by the surprisingly swaggerific comic timing of Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley as the mercurial bean-farming bro Caleb Trask, this is East of Eden like you've never seen it before.
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