Three Savannah College of Art and Design students have landed rock star roles in movie “CBGB,” producers announced Friday afternoon.
SCAD student Max Reinhardsen of Nyack, N.Y., will play Tom Verlaine, frontman of the band Television, which first opened Hilly Kristal’s iconic New York club to punk rock in the early 1970s.
Caleb McCotter of Mount Holly, N.C., will play Wayne County of punk band Wayne County & the Electric Chairs. Bronson Adams of Madisonville, Ky., will play Johnny Blitz, drummer for The Dead Boys.
And in a surprise announcement, The Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome -- who will be played by “Harry Potter” actor Rupert Grint -- will make a surprise cameo in the film shot at local Meddin Studios.
"Cheetah is looking forward to meeting his 7-year-old son's big screen idol," said director Randall Miller, who co-wrote “CBGB” with wife Jody Savin.
Another addition to the cast, actor Donal Logue (“Grounded For Life”) will play Kristal’s right-hand man, Miller said. Logue joins an increasingly star-studded cast featuring Alan Rickman, Ashley Greene, Malin Akerman, Stana Katic, John Galecki and others.
Meanwhile, according to Miller, original set pieces from the New York club -- including its toilets, its front doors and a 12-foot section of its bar -- arrived in Savannah earlier this week.
"It’s really incredible to have these amazing mementos from the actual club as part of our set,” he said. “It’s totally cool.”
CBGB closed in 2006. The movie starts filming in Savannah on June 25.