In his new movie, "Greetings From Tim Buckley," Penn Badgley plays late musician Jeff Buckley, and the experience inspired the "Gossip Girl" star to explore his own musicality. In fact, he and his girlfriend Zoë Kravitz have discussed performing together.

"That's something only you do when it's very right," he says. "And because people are inclined to ask, then you have to make sure it's real right."

Badgley, 26, and Kravitz, 24, have been dating since 2011, and, he tells ABC News, he's also bonded with her father, rocker Lenny Kravitz.

"I haven't sung in front of him but I've played piano in front of him," Badgley says. "I did get nervous! He's super mellow about it all, but thankfully, I don't really think of it in those terms."

Ostensibly, the "American Woman" singer will have a chance to see him sing in "Greetings." The film, Badgely tells Peter Travers in a new interview, was deeply personal, and one he related to on a number of levels.

"He was falling in love, I was falling in love. He was coming to terms with his father in a certain way, and I was coming to terms with my father in a certain way," the actor says. "I was inspired. That's the most important thing. I was inspired to give all of myself."