Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins to Play Iggy Pop in CBGB Movie

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will portray punk legend Iggy Pop in the upcoming film based on the legendary New York club CBGB. Actors have also been cast to play Patti Smith, Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell.

The Hollywood Reporter says Hawkins will play the part of Iggy Pop in his prime, but no word yet on how significant his role will be. This will be the stickman’s first big movie role, as he’s only been involved in Foo Fighters videos and their documentary, ‘Back and Forth.’

Other actors involved in the project include ‘The Borgias’ actress Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ star Johnny Galecki, who will give his take on manager Terry Ork. Steven Schub will portray Dee Dee Ramone and join Joel David Moore and Julian Acosta, who are playing Joey and Johnny Ramone, and Evan Alex Cole (‘She’s Out of My League’ and ‘As the World Turns’) has been cast as punk style icon Richard Hell. Alan Rickman will star as Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB.

Production on the film will begin on June 25 in Savannah, Ga., with some shooting to take place in New York shortly after. Lisa Kristal Burgman, daughter of Hilly Kristal (and the one who controls her late father’s estate), will serve as co-producer of the film, despite protests from her brother Dana.

CBGB was a rock venue institution in Manhattan that got its start hosting country, bluegrass and blues artists. That soon turned to new wave and punk acts when it became tough for Kristal to book the original types of groups he intended to bring in. Bands like the Ramones, the Misfits, the Patti Smith Group, Blondie, the Talking Heads and more have played in the legendary venue. CBGB closed in 2006 after a legal dispute with Kristal’s landlords. The owner died a year later from lung cancer.