Last year’s celebrations for the 20th Anniversary of Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical landmark film Almost Famous were toned down because of the pandemic. In celebration of the milestone, star Patrick Fugit took ABC Audio on a walk down memory lane.
Fugit recalled working alongside a bevy of A-listers when he scored his breakout role as Rolling Stone journalist William Miller going out on tour in the 70s with “Stillwater.”
Fugit adds he was only 16 when he was offered the role and recalled what it was like filming alongside powerhouse acts like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup and Frances McDormand.
“Frances would give more like sagely advice you know, and sort of be there with me and pass to me the things that she had learned over time,” the 38-year-old actor reminisced. “Billy was straight-up hostile towards me. He’d be like ‘Where the hell are you from again?’ I’d be like ‘Salt Lake City, Utah.’ And he’s like ‘How old are you?’ I’d be like ‘Sixteen’ and he’s like ‘God.'”
When it came to working alongside Crowe, Fugit said the director helped immerse him into the sounds of the era.
Fugit said Crowe burned him “a bunch of mix CD’s that he had put together that were sort of tonal” so he knew what emotion to convey during certain scenes.
The actor also reminisced about one the film’s most beloved sequences — the sing along to Elton John‘s “Tiny Dancer.”
Although it took “over two, maybe even three days” to complete, the actor said, overall, filming that scene while maintaining that level of energy, “was amazing.”
To mark Almost Famous‘ 20th anniversary, Paramount released a newly remastered version of the movie on Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD.
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