I Am A Golden God: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Almost Famous

For anyone who loves rock music, especially from the 1970s, Almost Famous is an essential movie. From filmmaker Cameron Crowe, this is a love letter to the era and the music that came out of it. The film follows an aspiring rock journalist who joins an up-and-coming band on their tour.

Almost Famous is a funny, charming and moving look at a special period in time and the people who love music with all of their hearts. Explore this great film further with some stories about how it all came to be. Here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts about Almost Famous.

10 Autobiographical

Cameron Crowe saw Almost Famous as his passion project and it’s not hard to see why. The film, though technically fictional, is largely inspired by Crowe’s own experience of his younger days. Like the lead character in the film, William (Patrick Fugit), Crowe was an aspiring music journalist who got to tour with the Allman Brothers Band.

The personal feel of the movie is evident throughout. Crowe’s own love of the music and this era shines through and makes this a much richer story to experience.

9 Frances McDormand

One of the biggest names in the cast at the time of filming was certainly Frances McDormand. The Oscar-winning actor plays a supporting role as William’s mother, but she effectively steals the entire movie with her performance.

Like many aspects of the movie, McDormand’s character is based on Cameron Crowe’s own mother. When Crowe’s mother was on set, he tried his hardest to keep her separated from McDormand so she wouldn’t see how she was being portrayed. However, after losing his mother on set, Crowe found her having lunch with McDormand.

8 Writing The Music

The band at the center of the film is Stillwater and, though they are a fictional band, they did have some notable musical talents involved in their creation. In order to write the music Stillwater performs in the film, Cameron Crowe sought out the help of his ex-wife Nancy Wilson from the band Heart as well as Peter Frampton.

This added a legitimate sound to the band that was also appropriate for the setting of the film. Frampton also helped some of the actors learn to play their instruments.

7 Band Practice

Though we spend much more time offstage with the band than onstage, the success of the film depended on believing that Stillwater was a band that might hit it big. While the actual music was a big element, the actors who made up the band needed to be believable as well.

In order for the four actors to seem authentic, they practiced together for four hours, five nights a week for six weeks. This allowed them to look like they knew what they were doing onstage and also form a bond.

6 Casting Russell

One essential bit of casting for the film was Russell Hammond, the lead guitarist and songwriter behind Stillwater. Billy Crudup plays the role in the final film, bringing charm, arrogance and just a bit of delusion to the part.

However, another big name was also in talks for the role as Cameron Crowe had lengthy conversations with Brad Pitt about playing Russell. While Pitt liked the script, he still had reservations about the part and finally told Crowe he didn’t understand it enough to play the role.

5 Philip Seymour Hoffman

Another standout character in the film was Lester Bangs, the high-energy eccentric music critic who helps set William on his dream career path. Unlike most of the other people in the movie, Bangs was a real person who wrote for Rolling Stone.

Though a small part, the character is brought to life with a terrific performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman. In a testament to his skills and dedication as an actor, Hoffman only had a few short days to film his entire role and he was sick with the flu for all of them. It certainly did nothing to dull his performance.

4 Record Collection

One of the most wonderful scenes in the movie is near the beginning of the film as William’s sister is leaving home and she gifts him her extensive record collection. As William goes through all the records, we can see his passion coming alive.

That love of music is all over this movie and that scene speaks to Cameron Crowe’s own passion for this music. All the records in that scene are actually Crowe’s own collection which he had saved from his younger days.

3 Music Budget

While the band at the center of the film is not real, that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of great classic music throughout the movie. As a way of immersing the audience in this era of rock, the soundtrack for the film is filled with great artists from this time.

Some of the music included in the film comes from the likes of Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, and Fleetwood Mac to name a few. Because of all this music, the film’s music budget, which is normally at around $1.5 million, went up to $3.5 million.

2 Kate Hudson

Though the film is full of great performances, the breakout star of the movie is most certainly Kate Hudson as Penny Lane. Penny is the passionate yet disrespected muse of Russell and the dream girl for William. Hudson became a star thanks to her charming and entertaining performance.

Many young actors were considered for the role of Penny Lane, including Kirsten Dunst and Christina Ricci. Ultimately, Sarah Polley was cast before backing out before filming. She was replaced with Hudson who had originally been cast as William’s sister, who Zooey Deschanel plays in the final film.

1 Tiny Dancer

The most famous scene in the film is certainly the “Tiny Dancer” sequence on the bus. After a feud breaks out between the band, they travel down the road in their tour bus in tense silence. But when Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” begins to play, they all start singing along together.

As great as the moment is in the film, apparently it wasn’t so charming during filming. According to Cameron Crowe, he made the cast do the scene so many times that Noah Taylor, who plays the band manager, refused to participate by the end. Crowe also admits out of everyone, Patrick Fugit had the worst singing voice.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2033 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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