Young Actor Becomes <I>Famous</i>
Just shy of his 18th birthday, actor Patrick Fugit is living a showbiz dream.
In less than two years he has gone from small roles on television to the starring role in one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year in Almost Famous.
Fugit is happy with the response the film has gotten, and notes, "It's getting a lot of buzz and a lot of people are talking about it."
Fugit started out in community theater and did some work on television's Touched By An Angel before an agent sent his tape to director Cameron Crowe. But it wasn't a smooth trip.
"It got lost. It was here in New York with Gail Levin and they had to get it to Los Angeles, so they put it in a box and the box got misplaced or something…."
In short, Patrick says it was a stroke of luck that he got his part in Almost Famous— "that they even saw my tape."
In the movie, Fugit plays a 15-year-old from a quirky family who gets a call from Rolling Stone magazine to cover an up-and-coming rock band.
Fugit plays William Miller, a character based on Crowe's childhood. In the movie, his dad dies from a heart attack and his sister believes that their mother is so intense that she has to escape the family. She leaves him all of her record albums and goes off to become a flight attendant. It's a scenario the children can't seem to find a way to get through.
Was there extra pressure on him to play the character in a certain way, given that Crowe was directing the film?
"A little bit, because it's such a personal project for him. Also, he was very -- he was very specific… on the fact that he didn't want me to play Cameron Crowe [at] 15 years old. He wanted me to play William Miller, who is a totally different person."
But did he ever say, "No, I wouldn't do it that way?"
"No, he was really -- people think that he's very organized and wants it his way. But he's not. He was very open with it."
Compared to the other characters, it appeared that Patrick literally grew up in the middle of this movie. How did he do it? In two words, platform shoes.
He started out being the same height as his colleagues. "Yeah, like it was Anna Paquin, me and Kate Hudson and Billy [Crudup] and Jason [Lee] and by the end I was about as tall as Jason. They had to wear, a couple of them, platform shoes. The girls wearing a lot of heels and Billy— I really hope he doesn't see this— but he had platforms on like this."
Patrick was very impressed with the cast. "Yes, these people are so amazing at what they do. It's like you can just learn by observing them and watching them work."
His best advice for aspiring young actors? "Don't give up, but don't push yourself out there in an annoying kind of way. Keep your manners about you."