Jeff Buckley’s Mom Finally Explains Why That Brad Pitt Biopic Never Happened

Jeff Buckley’s mom is finally sharing the story of why an apocryphal biopic about her late son starring Brad Pitt never came to be.

As Variety reports, Pitt was working hard to get a Buckley film off the ground in the early 2000s, just a few years after the musician died in 1997 from drowning in a Memphis river. Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, said Pitt’s efforts to court her approval included inviting her to lunch at his home, and even his wedding to Jennifer Aniston. 

Pitt wasn’t the only person eager to play Buckley, but as Guibert said, “If there’s 20 people calling you, and Brad Pitt is one of them, who are you gonna pick to go see?” 

But Guibert ultimately had too many reservations about Pitt, and just didn’t see how the actor could transform into her son. “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 recalled telling Pitt at the time.   

While that biopic never did come about, Pitt stayed in touch with Guibert over the years and wound up executive producing Amy Berg’s new documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, which premieres today, Jan. 24, at Sundance. The actor and producer was also reportedly involved in efforts to digitize and preserve Buckley’s belongings and archive.

As for Berg, the Oscar-nominated documentarian was originally interested in making her own narrative film about Buckley, before Guibert gave her access to the musician’s archive. “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. “And I just didn’t know how you could kind of replicate Jeff in that scripted sense.”