Apparently James Franco was up for it for a while. Then there was all this talk about Robert Pattinson in the role. And he had also previously said he was rather interested too. Those who make casting decisions however had other ideas....

Lonely Boy?

Dan Humphrey?

Indeed. Penn Badgley has confirmed the role.

“In its purest form this is a father and son story, a rite of passage that is made possible by a romantic journey Jeff finds himself on. We see Jeff accepting who he is to become and laying to rest the ghost of his father while ultimately finding his voice. We had been searching well over a year for an actor that can come close to Jeff’s spirit while also having the serious musical chops required to authentically tell this story. Penn’s audition blew us away and we knew we found our star.”

Not sure if Penn will be doing his own singing and strumming but...

He must have really laid one down. Because... I mean... Penn Badgley?

I listen to Buckley on my “let me feel sad and wallow days”. Walking on the trail after a rough stretch, pretending I’m in a cheesy music video. Frankly I’d rather them not do this at all. But I heard somewhere that his mother was really intent on the project. So here we are – Penn Badgley beat out Franco and Pattinson. WTF?

What didn’t we know about Penn Badgley? I can’t imagine it would have been a money situation. Pattinson would have dropped his rate for sure. So it comes down to pure performance. And... again...

Penn Badgley either knows someone or he must have really taken it to them because this is quite the David and Goliath here. And, also, superficially, because Buckley was so f-cking hot, um, I’m just not sure Penn Badgley gets it done in that area, you know? Look at him in this photo. Gross.

Still...it’s made me a lot more interested in his secret skills than I was last week. Can you imagine if he comes out with some kind of crazy ass delivery and impresses the sh-t out of the world and gets all kinds of hype??? Can you imagine Blake Lively?

It would actually be GREAT for Gossip.


Source
Photos from Wenn.com