55 Fun Facts About Almost Famous

Who wrote and directed Almost Famous?

Cameron Crowe wrote and directed the film, drawing on his own years as a teenage rock journalist touring with bands in the early 1970s.

For which magazine does teenage William Miller write his first cover story?

Rolling Stone hires the 15-year-old William over the phone, never realizing his age, and sends him on the road with the band for a cover story.

What is the name of the fictional band William tours with?

Stillwater is the fictional band; a real Southern-rock group of that name from Georgia had to be paid for permission before the film could use it.

Who plays William Miller?

Patrick Fugit, an unknown teenager from Salt Lake City, plays William; Michael Angarano plays the younger William in the opening scenes.

Who plays Penny Lane?

Kate Hudson was first cast as William's sister Anita and was moved into the Penny Lane role late in pre-production; the part earned her an Oscar nomination.

Who plays the band's lead guitarist, Russell Hammond?

Billy Crudup plays Russell Hammond, the band's lead guitarist; Crudup had played runner Steve Prefontaine in Without Limits (1998) two years earlier.

Who plays the band's lead singer, Jeff Bebe?

Jason Lee plays frontman Jeff Bebe, whose resentment of guitarist Russell's growing fame fuels the band's fights; Lee had starred in Kevin Smith's Mallrats and Chasing Amy.

Which real rock critic does Philip Seymour Hoffman play?

Lester Bangs, the real Creem critic, becomes William's mentor, paying him $35 for his first assignment and urging him to be 'honest and unmerciful'.

Who plays William's mother, Elaine?

The character was based on Crowe's own mother, who came to the set to keep an eye on him and ended up getting along with McDormand.

Who plays William's older sister Anita, who leaves home to become a flight attendant?

Zooey Deschanel plays Anita, who leaves William her rock records when she moves out; it was one of Deschanel's first film roles, a year after Mumford (1999).

Which talk-show host plays the professional road manager Dennis Hope?

Jimmy Fallon, then a Saturday Night Live cast member, plays Dennis Hope, the slick manager who moves the band from its bus to a chartered plane.

What term does Penny Lane use for the girls who follow bands to support the music?

Penny insists they are Band aides, not groupies: they follow the band for the music and to inspire it, not to sleep with rock stars.

Which band is William sent to interview for his first assignment, where he first meets the band?

William is sent to cover Black Sabbath's San Diego show; refused at the backstage door, he gets in with the opening act by praising their music.

Which magazine editor hires William and sends him on the road?

Ben Fong-Torres, played by Terry Chen, was the real magazine editor who gave the teenage Cameron Crowe his early assignments in the 1970s.

What does Russell shout before jumping off a roof into a swimming pool at a party in Topeka?

High on acid at a fan's house party in Topeka, Russell yells 'I am a golden god!' from the roof, then leaps into the pool below.

Penny Lane and three other girls are lost by the band in what?

The band loses Penny and the other girls to Humble Pie in a poker game, for $50 and a case of beer, just before reaching New York.

What does William save Penny from in her New York hotel room?

It follows the party where she turns up uninvited and Russell ignores her.

What prompts everyone on the band's plane to confess their secrets?

William uses the moment to confess his love for Penny after Jeff insults her.

Why does the magazine initially kill William's article?

Gregg Allman said he and Dickey Betts pulled a similar prank on the real teenage Crowe, claiming their contract barred his story.

Where does Penny Lane finally go at the end of the film?

Penny had long talked of going to Morocco, and near the film's end she is seen at an airport buying a ticket there after sending Russell to William's house.

Which Elton John song, sung on the tour bus, was nominated for AFI's 100 greatest movie songs?

'Tiny Dancer', from Elton John's 1971 album Madman Across the Water, is the song the whole bus sings along to after the Topeka blow-up.

Which Academy Award did Almost Famous win?

The film won Best Original Screenplay at the March 2001 ceremony; its other three nominations (two for Best Supporting Actress, one for Film Editing) all lost.

Which award did the actress playing Penny Lane win?

For Penny Lane she won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in January 2001 but lost the Oscar to Marcia Gay Harden; the film also took the Globe for Best Musical or Comedy.

Roughly how much did Almost Famous gross worldwide?

Almost Famous grossed about $47 million worldwide, roughly $32 million of it in North America, well short of what it cost to make.

Which critic named Almost Famous the best film of 2000 and the ninth-best of the decade?

Ebert gave it four stars and called it 'funny and touching in so many different ways'.

Which 1970s rock star served as technical consultant on the film and co-wrote two of the band's songs?

Peter Frampton, who had toured in the 1970s with Humble Pie and as a solo act, coached the actors and also appears on screen as Reg, Humble Pie's road manager.

Crowe co-wrote three of the band's songs with his then-wife, a member of which band?

Nancy Wilson of Heart, married to Crowe from 1986 to 2010, scored the film and co-wrote the fictional band's songs with him.

Which Pearl Jam guitarist played lead guitar on all of the band's songs?

Mike McCready, Pearl Jam's lead guitarist, recorded the guitar parts for the fictional band's songs; Crowe had earlier cast Pearl Jam members in Singles (1992).

Which Alice in Chains musician turned down the role of bassist Larry Fellows?

Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains' guitarist, had cameos in Crowe's Singles (1992) and Jerry Maguire (1996) but passed on the bassist role.

Which band gave Crowe song rights only after he screened the film for two members in London?

Led Zeppelin, long reluctant to license songs to films, approved several tracks, including 'That's the Way' and 'Tangerine', after Crowe screened the film for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in London.

Which rock anthem was refused for a scene, leaving a silent DVD extra telling viewers to press play themselves?

'Stairway to Heaven' was withheld, so the extended cut's living-room scene plays silent with an on-screen cue telling viewers to start the song on their own copy.

In My Cross to Bear, which musician said scenes drew on Crowe's time with his band?

Gregg Allman's 2012 memoir My Cross to Bear recalls the teenage Crowe touring with the Allman Brothers Band in 1973 and says the film drew on that time.

Which actress was originally cast as Penny Lane before dropping out?

Sarah Polley, the Canadian actress from The Sweet Hereafter (1997), was cast as Penny Lane but withdrew before filming; the role went to the actress first cast as Anita.

What is the name of the extended cut released on DVD in 2001 with about 40 extra minutes?

'Untitled: The Bootleg Cut', released on DVD in December 2001, runs about 162 minutes against the 122-minute theatrical version, with roughly 40 minutes of restored scenes.

In which Grammy category did the film's music win in 2001?

The album ranges from Simon & Garfunkel's 'America' to Stillwater's own 'Fever Dog'.

Which Simon & Garfunkel song opens the soundtrack album?

'America' (1968) is the song Anita plays for Elaine to explain why she is leaving home; it opens the 17-track soundtrack album.

What is the title of the band's signature song on the soundtrack?

'Fever Dog', written by Nancy Wilson and Cameron Crowe, is the fictional band's hard-rock showpiece and the only one of its songs included on the soundtrack album.

In which city does the film open in 1969?

The film opens in San Diego in 1969, the city where Crowe himself grew up and wrote his first reviews for a local underground paper as a teenager.

The stage musical of Almost Famous premiered in 2019 at which theater before moving to Broadway?

The musical premiered at The Old Globe in San Diego in September 2019, then opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in November 2022 and closed in January 2023.

Which real magazine founder appears in the film in a cameo as a taxi passenger?

Eion Bailey plays Wenner in the story itself.

Which future star of The Office plays magazine writer David Felton?

Rainn Wilson, later Dwight Schrute on The Office, plays magazine staffer David Felton; Eric Stonestreet and Marc Maron also have small parts.

Which magazine job did the director start in 1973 as a teenager?

Crowe began writing for Rolling Stone in 1973 at 15 and was soon a contributing editor; his road pieces on touring bands became the film's raw material.

Which Crowe film grew out of a year he spent posing undercover as a teenage student?

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) came from Crowe's 1981 book, researched by enrolling undercover at San Diego's Clairemont High School at 22; it was his first screenplay.

Where did the BBC's 2016 poll of critics rank Almost Famous among the greatest films since 2000?

The BBC's 2016 poll of 177 critics ranked Almost Famous 79th among the century's greatest films, a list topped by Mulholland Drive.

Which A-list actor was originally set to play Russell Hammond before dropping out during rehearsals?

Brad Pitt worked on the role of Russell with Crowe for months but withdrew before filming in 1999, and the part was recast.

Which Led Zeppelin member's hotel-balcony boast inspired Russell's rooftop scene?

Robert Plant reportedly made the boast from a balcony of the Continental Hyatt House on Sunset Strip, the 'Riot House' where Led Zeppelin stayed on tour; Crowe gave the line to Russell.

The real Pennie Lane Trumbull's group of female promoters called themselves what?

Pennie Trumbull, from Portland, Oregon, led the Flying Garter Girls, a group who befriended touring bands in the early 1970s; Crowe knew her from that scene.

Which singer-songwriter plays the band's bassist, Larry Fellows?

Mark Kozelek, frontman of the San Francisco band Red House Painters, plays Larry Fellows, the band's quiet bassist.

The real band Stillwater, whose name the film had to license, was signed to which Macon, Georgia label?

Guitarist Bobby Golden said the producers wanted the name for free, but the band 'got a little bit of change out of it'.

What name is painted on the band's tour bus?

The band tours in a bus named Doris until Dennis Hope swaps it for a chartered plane; the famous sing-along scene happens aboard Doris.

Who plays Dick Roswell, the band's manager?

Noah Taylor plays Dick Roswell, the band's harried manager, sidelined when Dennis Hope takes over; Taylor was best known as the young David Helfgott in Shine (1996).

Where did the Writers Guild rank the Almost Famous screenplay in its 2021 list of the 21st century's greatest?

The Writers Guild of America's 2021 list of the 101 greatest screenplays of the 21st century placed Almost Famous 9th, in a top ten headed by Get Out and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

What is Penny Lane's real name, which she finally reveals to William?

Penny Lane finally tells William her real name is Lady Goodman; 'Penny Lane' is a persona borrowed from the Beatles song.

Which composer developed the musical numbers with Crowe for the stage adaptation?

Tom Kitt, the Pulitzer-winning composer of Next to Normal, wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Crowe; Jeremy Herrin directed the 2022 Broadway production.

Which company bought DreamWorks, the studio that released Almost Famous in the US, in 2006?

Viacom, parent of Paramount, bought DreamWorks SKG in February 2006 for about $1.6 billion; Paramount later issued both cuts of the film on Blu-ray in 2021.