Jake Gyllenhaal would bleach his hair to play Kurt Cobain in a biopic of the Nirvana frontman’s life.
The ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time‘ actor is unsure if he would be a good casting, but would be willing to make the necessary changes to play the role of the troubled ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit‘ singer.
He told NME.com: “I don’t know if I’d be the right choice. But the hair from ‘Prince of Persia‘ could translate somehow. We could just bleach it.”
However, his co-star in the computer game-turned-movie Gemma Arterton does not think he would be the best choice to play Kurt and would prefer to see a new actor in the role.
She said: “I actually read a script recently, which was amazing. Someone needs to play Kurt Cobain. I don’t know, maybe they should find someone new.
“Because when you’re playing an iconic character, when you get someone really famous to play them, sometimes you’re just watching a famous person play someone else and it’s nice when it’s a completely new person.”
A number of people have been linked to the movie project recently, including British actor Robert Pattinson and ‘Iron Man 2‘ star Scarlett Johansson.
However, Kurt’s widow Courtney Love vetoed the idea of 24-year-old Robert portraying the rocker, who committed suicide in April 1994.
She said: “Isn’t that so stupid, who would cast him? That’s just wrong, no offence. I watched the ‘Twilight‘ stuff very, very recently and I get it, it resonates with the teenage girl in me, I understand epic love of that nature; I write about it all the time. But isn’t that silly?”
I find it rather ironic that Jake wants to play Kurt Cobain; in his movie, “Highway”, the characters went to Seattle for a Kurt Cobain memorial, albeit to find a girl! As much as I love Jake, I agree with Gemma — an unknown actor would lend more realism to the part. ~E.
P.S. However, Jake can sing and play guitar, and has always been ageless as far as his roles went. ~E.