Ethan Hawke will portray jazz trumpet legend Chet Baker in the forthcoming biopic Born to be Blue. The film will chart the rise, fall and late 70s comeback of the musician who found fame in the 50s playing with the likes of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker.

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Robert Budreau, the film has begun shooting in Ontario. It will also star Carmen Ejogo (The Purge: Anarchy) and Callum Keith Rennie (Fifty Shades Of Grey)

“The story will chart his comeback in the late ’70s and the tumultuous love affair that changed the way he played music and helped him on the road to redemption after his self-destructive ways had seemingly destroyed his career,” reports Deadline.


Baker spent time in prison and battled addiction throughout his life. Budreau also made a short film about Baker’s passing, The Death of Chet Baker. On the comeback trail, and returning to the peak of his powers, the 58-year-old musician died after a fall from the balcony of his hotel room while in Holland in 1988. His death was deemed accidental after it was discovered he had taken a combination of cocaine and heroin.

Watch below to see Chet Baker singing Almost Blue in the trailer for Bruce Weber’s 1988 documentary Let’s Get Lost.