AceShowbiz -

Two Jeff Buckley films are currently developing, and one of them has found an actor. "Gossip Girl" hunk Penn Badgley has been announced to portray the late singer in Dan Algrant-directed film, "Greetings from Tim Buckley".

Announcing the casting, Smuggler Films' Patrick Milling Smith admitted that Penn's audition has surprised them. "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," he said. "Penn's audition blew us away and we knew we found our star."

"Greetings from Tim Buckley" tells a true story of how Jeff Buckley ended up appearing at his father's tribute concert in St. Ann's Church. Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him. Culminating in a cathartic performance of his father's most famous song, Jeff's debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time.

Penn came to prominent after he starred as Phillip Chancellor IV on 2001's "The Young and the Restless". In addition to making TV performances, The Dan Humphrey of "Gossip Girl" plays in "John Tucker Must Die" and "The Stepfather". He has recently been seen starring opposite Emma Stone in "Easy A", and will be seen in "Margin Call".