What About Mark Rendall as Jeff Buckley?

Since we learned that the Jeff Buckley biopic is still in the works this past June, the news has evoked a myriad of responses. There are those that love the idea, those who loathe even the thought of Robert Pattinson taking the role, those who protest, and even those who want the gig for themselves. Personally, I've liked the idea of Pattinson -- not for his acting, but for his look and musical talents. Any Buckley biopic should have Jeff's music sung by himself, no covers allowed. But they still need the musical talent -- the man who can look wholly natural performing, and who has the talents to play the guitar as Buckley did, freeing any need for careful cuts and stand-in musical hands.

But if the thought of a Twilight actor is too much to bear, there's a Canadian actor who has somehow grown into the spitting image of Jeff Buckley over the last five years. (To be fair, some commenters named this actor back in June, but I quickly forgot about it, imagining the boy actor I first knew, and not the man he had become.) Mark Rendall.

In 2004 he starred in Don McKellar's Childstar, playing an overly spoiled young actor struggling with the demands of superstardom. When Charlie Bartlett came a few years later, he was still the same kid -- just a little bit older. Fast-forward a few more years, and I sat down on my couch to watch a screener for Sook-Yin Lee's first feature: Year of the Carnivore. Rendall plays a musician in the film, and without trying, he's the spitting image of Jeff Buckley (by looks alone, he'd be the most bang-on portrayal since Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison).

He's got the musician look, the lean frame, the disheveled hair, the eyes, the lips, and even the gentle, mouth-framing facial hair. And he plays the guitar! (As well as Buckley? Not sure ... that remains to be seen.) Is that enough to please you, Buckley fans? Or should the whole project just fade away?