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- [00:00]
Kate Hudson
This is actually kind of cool. My mom was nominated at 21 for an Oscar and she found out in Heathrow Airport. And when I found out that I was nominated at 21 for Almost Famous, I was in Heathrow Airport. Talk about quantum enmeshment. It was so weird. And my mom called me. She's like, oh, my God. Oh my God, you're nominated. And I was like, oh, my gosh. So where are you? I'm like, I'm at Heathrow. She's like, what? That's crazy.
- [00:32]
Jason Lee
I'm a massive Cameron Crowe fan. I believe that films should have some kind of feel goodness about them, and we don't see that as much these days, I don't think. For example, I. My wife and I love We Bought a Zoo. I love Jerry Maguire. I love Cameron Crowe's films. He's absolutely unafraid to be emotional, real sentimental, nostalgic. All of these sort of like bad words, you know, sentimentality and nostalgia and all of these things you're not supposed to be nostalgic and all of these things. Things being a little more cynical and people being a little more jaded and people being a little more just kind of rough around the edges or a little more beaten down by whatever it is. And it's proof though, that people want to feel that feeling that you're supposed to get when you watch a film, cry, laugh, feel some sense of inspiration.
- [01:31]
Jim Miller
Hi, I'm Jim Miller and welcome back to Origen's almost famous turns 20. This is episode five. After exploring the movie's casting in episode one, then retracing Cameron Crowe's upbringing and the writing of the screenplay in episode two, detailing pre production and Rock School in episode three, and then recollecting the actual making of the film in episode four. We're going to examine the impact of the movie on its prodigious cast, their feelings about their director, and Cameron Crowe's own thoughts about how Almost Famous fits into his filmography.
- [02:04]
Frances McDormand
It was disappointing that it took a while to catch on, but it caught on to the point where people don't remember now that it actually got the shit kicked out of it by a movie from 1973, the Weekend it opened. The Exorcist.
- [02:18]
Jim Miller
Right.
- [02:18]
Frances McDormand
It was a re release of the Exorcist.
- [02:21]
Kate Hudson
I'll never forget the first time I saw the movie. I was in a room with my agent and a couple friends and some other people that I worked with. And I walked outside of the screening room and I was in such shock of what I had Just seen in a good way that I didn't know if I had a good sense of if it was as good as I thought it was. So I remember looking to my friends and everybody going, it's really good, right? Am I crazy? Like, that's really good. I'm terrible at watching myself. So they're like, kate, this movie is amazing. Like, this is an amazing movie. Like, this is crazy. And I remember saying, like, am I. I feel like I'm good in it, right? They're like, yes, yes.
- [03:11]
Jim Miller
Like your life's going to change.
- [03:13]
Kate Hudson
Yeah. Like, it's like. I knew it at the moment. I knew, like, I was a bit in shock. It was sort of like they say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes, you know, and every. There's all these, like, little moments. Well, it kind of felt like that when you're come after seeing the movie, it was like everything that happened sort of was flashing before my eyes.
- [03:32]
Billy Crudup
I'm so myopic about it. It typically takes a while for me to register anything other than the ways in which I fell short. That's how I experience watching my own work. I heard an actor speak recently about seeing themselves in movies. Somebody had asked them, did they see the, you know, the movie that was just coming out? And they say, no, I don't watch my movies. I find it unpleasant. And I do have a bit of that same reaction to it. But I also have a curiosity about the craft. So I want to see that the things that I was trying to make work worked. I want to understand why the things that didn't work didn't work. I wanted to understand more about how films are cut and why he wouldn't use certain things that seemed so, like, necessary to me. So all of it was information back 20 years ago to me. So seeing it was compulsory. It took me probably, I don't know, a couple of months, maybe seeing it two times or three times before I began to appropriately revere Cameron's work. And I was kind of focused on my own personal criticism up until then.
- [04:36]
Patrick Fugit
I was working on another movie, I think, and I couldn't get to the premiere. I remember that. And I didn't get to see it until I just bought a ticket and saw it in the theater.
- [04:47]
Jim Miller
And what did you think when you saw it?
- [04:49]
Patrick Fugit
Oh, I loved it. I was like, really? There are things where I was like, oh, wow, I did that. That's cool.
- [04:57]
Jim Miller
Especially that little posture you get when Billy walks in the house and you kind of greet him.
- [05:01]
Patrick Fugit
You know, it's Funny that you say that, because that's one of the things that I actually realized, like, and this is why I think it's important at least at the beginning. I mean, they all said Katharine Hepburn didn't watch her movies, but, you know, Katharine Hepburn aside, I think it is important to at least at the beginning, like, watch your stuff. So you can see that was like a moment that happened. Sort of like Cameron likes to do a fair amount of takes. Like, he so enjoys the process of, you know, directing actors and making movies that he just likes to do a lot of takes. And I remember we'd done a ton of takes at that point and I'd loosened up and I remember that thing happened. It was like we'd done it a bunch of times and then that kind of came out just sort of naturally and I was like getting to that place of looseness sooner rather than later. With directors that don't do as many takes, like, you can kind of understand, like, you know, what are the special moments that cut together well and it allows you to be analytical about your performances. And, you know, I definitely, like, learned a lot because it's traumatic to watch yourself on a big screen.
- [06:05]
Jason Lee
I mean, any premiere is nerve wracking, of course, but that was one of just carrying with me a ton of pride. I can't wait for people to see this. But, you know, certainly I'm watching and I'm critiquing myself and does the lip syncing look good? And you know, really wanting to sort of make sure that it's delivered as it should be, but also being able to enjoy it because again, we knew that we were onto something and people were really moved by it.
- [06:33]
Jim Miller
What was it like watching the movie now versus the premiere 20 years ago?
- [06:38]
Zooey Deschanel
What was really exciting about seeing it is how absolutely undated it is. Very present. It feels as alive as it did the first time I saw it. And once again, I was reminded what a gift it was to play a character based on Cameron's mother, Alice. Because I was just starting in my career to play mothers and I was very conscientious about the roles that I chose that were mothers to male protagonists. And to have the opportunity to. To not only play a character who was based on someone so dynamic and so complicated and so loved by her son at the time. I had a five year old son who I adore with every breath I take. So to be able to play a really well, thoughtfully, well written mother role was a gift at that time in my career. But also to play a mother who quoted quotes.
- [07:36]
Kate Hudson
Goethe.
- [07:37]
Zooey Deschanel
I mean, yeah, that doesn't come along every day. That never comes along. Are you kidding? But I have to say, when I watched Almost Famous for the first time with my son, who is now 25, he was, I think, 12. It brought up all the things that you want to talk to them about but don't know how. And so it kind of was the whole list. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And you could talk about it from the character's point of view. So, you know, he had a great phrase at that time in his life, and it was, is this appropriate, Mom? This seems highly inappropriate. So we were watching, and he goes, I think this is inappropriate, but I'd like to keep watching it. It was like, excellent, because I want you to keep watching it.
- [08:21]
Philip Seymour Hoffman
To see it all done with a real audience and to see how the audience was reacting to the final version of the film is so gratifying because all the work and all of the meticulous detail and kind of mind bending attention that was paid to all of that to make it authentic, it came alive and people really got it to sit there and see them laugh in the right spots and to really understand the depth of the humor, which if. If you've got the humor first and if they care enough to laugh with the characters, that means you've got them and they'll feel for the characters for the rest of the show. They'll cry for the characters, too. So we felt so good because they were laughing and then they were crying. And it worked. It was worth all of the intensity.
- [09:25]
J.K. Simmons
So I'm leaving the premiere in Toronto that I was not invited to, and I go down, of course, Philip Seymour Hoffman there. He's in a stretched limousine. Yeah. Which is hilarious. I'm taking a cab there, you know, So I see him and I run and I dive in the limousine and I hug him and I start, like, wrestling with him and, like, humping him, you know, like just messing around, like wrestling, you know. And I go, I love you, man. What's up?
- [09:46]
Kate Hudson
You know?
- [09:46]
J.K. Simmons
And he goes, he goes, jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Why? He goes, this is my mom over. She was at the other side of the stretch. The other side of the stretch limousine. I go, oh, I'm so sorry. So sorry. We. We had a fun relationship on the movie. I was like, what am I doing? He was with his mother. And I go, all right, nice to meet you. Jumped out of the limousine. I'm like, taxi. I don't know how you say it in Toronto.
- [10:09]
Kate Hudson
Taxider.
- [10:11]
J.K. Simmons
Cab, blue cab, Cab de Bleu. And then I got in my cab and went to the hotel.
- [10:19]
Jim Miller
Patrick was just 17 in the year 2000 when Almost Famous premiered. It was an appropriately youthful film with which to launch a young actor's movie career.
- [10:28]
Michael Angarano
I had come in to do, I think, adr, and then Cameron was like, you want to watch the movie? And I was like, yes. And that's what I remember thinking. I was like, holy shit, it goes by so fast. But I also remember that was a huge learning experience in terms of what we did on the day and what was chosen to be put into the final edit, how the camera felt on set and what the camera sees in the film. You know, that's an important dynamic of film acting, is perceiving what it is. The lens is actually going to show the audience. And so it was like, technical stuff like that. It was emotional stuff, like seeing all the relationships and all of that again. And what did you think when you.
- [11:12]
Jim Miller
First saw it all put together?
- [11:14]
Michael Angarano
I remember being floored because I was like, that's it. It's seven months of my life condensed into 90 minutes. You know, so there's so much left out. Like, there's so much that I remember. And there were entire sequences. You know, there's a Kyle Glass came in and did a whole radio sequence that was brilliant with the band. And he plays this amazing, like, stoner DJ character. There was a lot of stuff in there and it was brilliant. And it was just cut out of the movie. And then the whole character of the sister's boyfriend was cut out of the movie and that whole thing.
- [11:49]
Jim Miller
So what was it like for you back in Salt Lake City after the movie came out?
- [11:54]
Michael Angarano
You know, when I would come out here, I would get recognized a lot. And when I went on the press tour and everything, you know, I was treated a certain way. And then I would go back to Salt Lake City and nobody know who I was, which I actually really enjoyed at that point. You know, I was excited about a lot of people knowing who I was, you know, like being famous. But I also really appreciated, like, my family and my friend group and my lifestyle and that sort of thing. And I didn't. I knew I didn't want that to change too much. It took Salt Lake City a little while to, like, come around and start, like, picking me out of the crowd at Blockbuster Video or whatever, you know, like, hey, are you the kid from Almost Famous? And I remember at first it made me uncomfortable and I would say, no, no, it's not me. No, no, I just look like him. My friend even made me a shirt that said, no, I just look like him.
- [12:45]
Jim Miller
When you saw the poster, I mean, there's a lot of different ways to go with this movie on how you're going to advertise it. Yeah, but what was it like when you saw that?
- [12:54]
Kate Hudson
I mean, beyond exciting again, it's like a mix between excitement and shock. You're sort of like, what does it mean? You know, I don't know. I guess it's a good thing that for me, there's always a level of disbelief between anything I see outside of the experience that I'm having. So my experience on Almost Famous is very different than my experience watching Almost Famous or seeing the poster. That feels way more surreal than what my experiences were shooting in. So it just felt surreal. I think the most surreal was the Times Square, because it was in Times Square and it was just like, here I was, 20 years old, and it's not. It wasn't even just like, you know, a body and a face, you know, and like me and someone. It was just like my big face with glasses. It was like, wow. I mean, it was fucking wild and incredibly exciting. And I think that whole time was such a whirlwind of activity. It was such a fun time. The industry was so much more fun then as well than it is now. I think we were wild. We were having so much fun, you know, and especially a movie like that. We were traveling the world. You had to go meet people. We would go sit. We traveled to different places in the country and did radio shows and, you know, it was much more connective experience. We went to, you know, the festivals. It was just old school. It just felt. It was just really great.
- [14:22]
Jim Miller
When you're in Times Square and there's marketing posters of you like this, what was your mom saying to you? Given the fact that this is certainly.
- [14:29]
Kate Hudson
A level jump, I mean, I think that my parents were just so excited. My mom always says she doesn't like to use the word proud because it feels somehow like she's responsible for what that is. So it's like a weird word for her.
- [14:43]
Jim Miller
Leave it to your mom to think about that.
- [14:45]
Kate Hudson
I think there was a level of excitement, nervousness. I think there was definitely fear going into that. I was so young and sure. In her own mind, it was like, you know, she just wanted it to be good and wanted, I think, like anything. I think especially when you have the experience. All my parents really want is to make sure that I'm feeling good about my life, happy in my life. So they could kind of separate the sort of the probably most likely rise to stardom. In that moment, they kind of knew it was coming, I think, but they were just a little bit more concerned about whether I was grounded and happy.
- [15:23]
Jim Miller
The biggest box office obstacle for Almost Famous was that on its opening weekend, there was a re release of the Exorcist, the hugely popular horror classic that first premiered in 1973. This time, the slogan was the version you've never seen. And the new cut did an incredible $8.1 million in just 664 theaters. That took up a lot of attention. Almost Famous grossed a modest $2.3 million that first weekend. But it was a case where numbers simply cannot and do not tell the whole story.
- [15:55]
Frances McDormand
I remember getting the phone call where it's like, well, it's a flop. But it didn't feel like a flop because the movie was resonating with everybody that saw it. It's like, if you know something's not working and people are not coming, it's a little different from not enough people are seeing it yet. I think everybody had, like, confidence that if you see it, you might feel something. But the movies that last are the ones that touch people, and that's all they remember over time.
- [16:23]
Jim Miller
And the movies that touch people, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be baffo box office.
- [16:27]
Frances McDormand
It's true. It's true. But ultimately, the life it'll have won't be part of a box office report. It'll be a movie you either watch or don't.
- [16:36]
Jim Miller
Right. If somebody had said to you that people are clamoring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this movie, you would have said, yeah, right.
- [16:43]
Frances McDormand
I would have said, yeah, right.
- [16:47]
Jim Miller
How significant was it for you in your career, do you think? I mean, people forget that it was not a gigantic hit.
- [16:53]
Billy Crudup
It wasn't a hit. It didn't make money. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I remember feeling disappointed at the reaction I was looking for. That exact thing is like, so how is this going to shake things up? But when it had that response, you need, like one or two things to happen in order to have a major shift in your immediate opportunities. You have to win all sorts of awards or your movie has to make a ton of money. That's. It doesn't matter if you're good in something good, that's not going to create a level jump. And what happened with this movie is it grew in people over time. It's so much More popular with young people now than I remember experiencing it all at the time. I mean, people typically mistake me for Russell's grandfather, but that's okay. I'm still a part of the family. But it's true, there are young people who have such adoration and affection for. For the film because it's grown. And the more you watch it, the more you invest in Cameron's life and his openness and displaying that life and the romance that he tells this rock and roll story, it becomes a reliable piece of entertainment for you to saddle up to.
- [18:05]
Kate Hudson
It didn't do well. I think Almost Famous was Cameron as a real reflective grownup, as a director, meaning, like, you know, his other singles and Sandy, all those. Like, they had this sort of really youthful, as Cameron is so youthful. And then you had Jerry Maguire, which was like his first big kind of adult, like, okay, I'm working with Tom Cruise and it's gonna be, you know, and it was fucking amazing. But then Almost Famous was like, I'm a great filmmaker and I'm making my story. And he did it and he nailed it, you know, And I. I think we all knew it when we were making it too. You know, I think we all carried that weight with him, of, this is Cameron's story. We have to get there for him. And it was so much fun. It was just so fun.
- [18:54]
Frances McDormand
I wonder how it would have been different if Kate won the Oscar. She'd won all the critics Awards.
- [19:01]
Jim Miller
Had you written out a speech?
- [19:03]
Kate Hudson
No, no. But it was funny because everybody kept telling me I was gonna win. And deep down, I didn't think I was gonna win. And I kept saying, everybody, stop telling me this. It was almost like being in a haze a little bit at that time for me and Marcia Gay Harden win for Pollock. And it happened so fast. I remember sitting there and Nicolas Cage came up on the thing and it was like, for Best Supporting Actress. And I was like, oh, shit. That's. How did that. I just sat down and I. It's almost like I didn't even get time to settle enough to get nervous. And then I lost. I remember my whole family was there, and I was like, okay. And my dad's like, okay, okay. We were like, all right, now we move on. And I guess I'm a great believer that everything happens the way it's just supposed to happen. So then it was. The whole thing was over. But I also remember being really, really tired. And I remember going home. I lost. My dad looked at me. He gave me a great moment of Encouragement. And I went back, not home, but to the hotel with my husband at the time, and we went to the Governor's Ball. And I was like, you know what? I just want to go to bed. And we got champagne and strawberries, and I sat in bed and I must have slept for like a week. I mean, I was just. I hadn't realized what a whirlwind it was until it was over. I was saying to a director earlier today, the movie industry is just a heartbreaking industry. Every aspect of making a movie as an actor or someone who's involved in the process is heartbreaking. Whether it's a great experience or the shittiest experience on the planet, there's always going to be a heartbreak, right? You're always going to end up thinking to yourself, oh, it's heartbreaking that, you know, I put so much into it, and then I saw it and it's so bad and I'm heartbroken. Or I really wanted to work with this actor or this actress, and they just broke my heart because they were a pain in the ass or, oh, my God, every aspect of this movie was so incredible. Everything. And then one day, it's just over.
- [21:21]
Jim Miller
With all due respect to your previous work, did this in your mind represent a level jump to you in terms of what you were able to bring to the screen or to audiences?
- [21:30]
Billy Crudup
Well, certainly the character. I mean, for me, it's always about the part. And if you meet the part at the right time in your life and the movie works, you're good to go. It's just a question of timing. And that was great timing for me. That part came to me at the right time for me, and the movie worked.
- [21:49]
Jim Miller
Can you talk for a moment about Cameron Crowe and, you know, what he meant to you, and also, what's it like to start off like that?
- [21:56]
Michael Angarano
Yeah, I was in Salt Lake City riding BMX bikes, skateboarding, listening to Chumbawamba or whatever the hell, and then all of a sudden, I was like a legitimate professional actor. Like, I had to be that now, and I loved it. You know, it's what I'd wanted to do. I'd almost planned on it, so it was like that was now a reality. And the fact that Cameron made such an incredible film and that I was such a big part of it afforded me the opportunity to work on a lot of great stuff over the next few years while I stayed in Salt Lake City. So had I taken a. Maybe a more traditional actors approach, I would have had to move here to LA earlier and really grind out parts and grind out auditions and things like that. But that was not the case for me. So I just was all of a sudden elevated to this level just because Cameron, you know, picked me out of the crowd. And it's an incredible experience that, like, almost like Philip's character saying, like, you came along for the death rattle of rock and roll. Philip said to me, he's like, you know, the digital age is coming, and actors like you who don't have any credits, you know, you just get to walk in here and do this sort of thing. He's like, I think this industry is in its fading light. I was like, no, no. It's like it's my lifelong dream. But it truly was this perfect sort of period of time in my life, and the character matching up and then getting to experience Cameron really doing his thing and loving what he's doing and putting that on film and everybody around him committing as much as they can, as much heart and soul and skill as they can. I'm very fortunate. I mean, it changed my life.
- [23:40]
Philip Seymour Hoffman
I think, from all of the films that I worked on with him, which is most of his films, Almost Famous for Me is the favorite, just because it's such a rare animal that manages to describe sort of an innocence in the era of that time where the music was real. It wasn't digitized. It wasn't, you know, flaked and formed. It was real people playing real instruments and writing real songs and on their own without teams of experts. You know, it was just very personal time in music. I think it's just a rare occasion where a movie can describe something like that that sort of informs our culture today of what it's sort of missing in a lot of ways. Almost Famous is super special to me because it portrayed a story for Cameron, his own story about him and his family and growing up and, you know, getting his heart broke and all the stuff that happens when you're 15 and 16, as well as the fact that it told a story for me as a rock person. You know, being out in that electrified sanctuary of the big rock stage and what it means to people and, you know, how it sort of saves people. For William Miller, in the story, he was home when he was with the music people doing the music, going on the road with the musicians. It became a home for him. And so I think it just tells a lot of cool stories. It's a good analogy for us all sort of growing up and loving something so much, loving music so much, and having music in your life. Means so much.
- [25:47]
Jim Miller
Why do you think we're still talking about almost famous 20 years afterwards?
- [25:50]
Billy Crudup
Man, that's a great question. Well, you said something before about bridging the gap between childhood and adulthood. Every generation goes through that. Not every generation goes through what they went through in Jerry Maguire. He does this with adolescence and does it in a grand fashion and does it with cinematic qualities that hold up to the test of time. There's the unbelievable soundtrack. There's the writing, the sense of humor, the performances from Phil and Fran and Patrick and Kate and Jason. I mean, there's just spectacular performances in there and something that high quality about adolescence and the transition to adolescence, it'll make you reverential for it as you get old, and it'll make you feel like you're coming into your adulthood at the moment. You can relate to it. So I think there's probably something in what point of time he's studying in this person's life that gives it its sustained life. I will say this, that it's such a joy that it is as lasting culturally for Cameron, because it's a story about him, because his particular brand of creativity and kindness and generosity and reverence for artistic beauty is singular. And I'm so glad that he has this for him.
- [27:24]
Jim Miller
Why do you think we're talking about almost famous 20 years later?
- [27:28]
J.K. Simmons
It was just magic in a bottle, and it was just something that rarely happens. It's, you know, Halley's Comet. You have to appreciate it every time it comes around because it's rare. And we were all kind of no names, you know, for the most part. And it was like a lot of people's first thing. So it was really raw, it was innocent. And it had that hunger that you want from actors, and you can see that we all want this to work. You know, we all want this to be great, like top to bottom. I'm not talking even just the actors, the crew, too. We all wanted this to work. And we loved each other and we celebrated everyone's birthday and hugged and we were family, and it was just the greatest. And we. I think that's why the movie worked and stuck around and hung around is because we all worked so hard to make it work. And we all really put all of our energy into it. And, you know, with a great captain like Cameron Crowe, that ship's gonna sail.
- [28:25]
Kate Hudson
There's an innocence to this movie that I think people loved so much and crave. I think it's why, when you look back, I always think about that with music, you Know, you look back at the music and sort of like, oh, there's a level of innocence to this. Even though it was riddled with sex, drugs and rock and roll, it was still something kind of innocent about it.
- [28:51]
Patrick Fugit
It's still something people mention to me, you know, as one of their favorite movies. And I think it's also one of those movies that holds up now when you see it. I think it really, you know, holds up and it's kind of gotten even more interesting, you know, when you watch it again.
- [29:10]
Jim Miller
So at the end of the day, why do you think I'm here? Why do you think we're still talking about almost famous 20 years later?
- [29:16]
Jason Lee
That's a really good question. I'll tell you a part of that is because we don't really see films like that anymore, sadly. It's proof, though, that people want to feel that feeling that you're supposed to get when you watch a film, cry, laugh, feel some sense of inspiration.
- [29:32]
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Right?
- [29:33]
Jason Lee
Is really the purpose of movies. You know, feel some emotion, feel some sense of inspiration, have some experience of sort of self reflection in some way. There being a tender moment in a film and you sort of reach over and you grab your partner's hand. You're. You walk out feeling inspired and some kind of sense of hope or something. I mean, I don't think these things are so bad, and I don't think Cameron thinks they are either. It was really, really important to make it about the people. Therefore, you become so invested in them. They feel so rich and real and vulnerable, and they go through all the rollercoaster of all the emotions. And so there's a believability to it. And when you can invest in characters, you root for them, and when they come out on top, you feel their victory a little bit. People want that, I think, despite it seeming otherwise, I think people want that. They want to feel good when they go to the movies.
- [30:39]
Kate Hudson
Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott and we make a TV show called Severance.
- [30:44]
J.K. Simmons
On January 17th, Severance is back for season two on Apple TV plus, and we can't wait for you guys to see it.
- [30:50]
Kate Hudson
And before the premiere, Ben and I are going to be binging season one and putting out daily recap podcasts.
- [30:57]
Jim Miller
Yep.
- [30:57]
Billy Crudup
Each weekday beginning January 7th, we'll be.
- [30:59]
J.K. Simmons
Dropping an episode featuring exclusive behind the.
- [31:01]
Kate Hudson
Scenes tidbits and brilliant insights from our.
- [31:04]
J.K. Simmons
Cast and crew and us.
- [31:06]
Michael Angarano
Patricia Arquette, Britt Lauer, Zach Cherry, John Turturro.
- [31:10]
Kate Hudson
The list goes on.
- [31:11]
Billy Crudup
All your favorite Lumen employees Their friends.
- [31:14]
Kate Hudson
Families, enemies in your feed every single weekday. And here's the best part. After that, we're gonna keep going. Tune in weekly as we recap every episode of season two. The podcast drops on the same day the episode comes out.
- [31:28]
J.K. Simmons
It's the severance podcast with Ben and.
- [31:30]
Billy Crudup
Adam on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app.
- [31:33]
Kate Hudson
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [31:40]
Michael Angarano
I am not sweet, and you should know that about me.
- [31:44]
Billy Crudup
I am the enemy.
- [31:46]
Kate Hudson
Look, you should be happy for me. You don't know what he says to me in private. Maybe it is love as much as it can be for somebody. I sold you to humble pie for.
- [31:57]
Michael Angarano
50 bucks and a case of beer.
- [31:59]
Jason Lee
I was there. I was there.
- [32:04]
Kate Hudson
I mean, Cameron is truly responsible for my career, sort of taking the shape and position that it ended up taking. He really believed in me and went with it. I have so much gratitude for what he's enabled me to do in my career by giving me that chance. And at the same time, I was falling in love and getting married. So as my career was shooting up, my love life was very quite grounded, even though Chris and our life was very bohemian and a little wild and. But, like, I was very much domestic at that time. You know, I became a young mom. So right after that, I was married, had a kid. So it was funny because when most people would have really gone off into their life and been like, okay, it's all about making movies. It's all about my career. It's all about this. I actually just made a different choice. Not no good nor bad, just my choice was to start a family. And so the two big, biggest things in my life happened within, like a three year period. And so that time in my life was extraordinary because it was special, it was creative, it was energetic, it was fiery, it was emotional for everybody. It was important. It was probably Cameron's most important piece of work in terms of his life and his own life experience and the relationships that were formed on that film and what it did for everyone's career and how we look back on it. I mean, it set a tone that to me is like, all right, reset. Let's go back to that. Obviously we never go back, but it's a great benchmark.
- [33:51]
Jim Miller
The qualities, yes.
- [33:53]
Kate Hudson
For looking at. I waited for that part. Cameron waited to make that movie the right way. He spent a lot of people's money and a lot of extra time making sure that that movie was something special. And now, 20 years later, we're celebrating a movie that still holds up that my son, my 16 year old son loves. So, you know, it says a lot.
- [34:23]
Jim Miller
So Gail yesterday said, look, I'm prejudiced about Almost Famous, but let me say something to you. Kate Hudson has had an amazing career. She still has a huge career ahead of her, but I don't think she's ever done a role that captured so many elements of who Kate Hudson as an actress is and can be. Then Almost Famous.
- [34:45]
Kate Hudson
I know exactly what you're saying, and she's right. And I think that like any actor, there are certain roles that come around and along and certain people who believe in you enough to know that your capacity as an actor is wide. And I think Penny Lane gave me all of those opportunities very young. I think as an actor going forward, Almost Famous for me was a magical moment. My mom always says that after that day, then she became Kate Hudson's mom. But no, I think I feel very comfortable in my identity. At the same time, I am my mother's daughter. And it makes sense that people want to relate to those things similarly. It's a very tight connection, a close connection. Sometimes the celebrity becomes quite large, right? And that time has moved on. And so you either embrace it or you fight it. And I've embraced it. What I'm excited about is that I think there's a whole new wave of exciting, creative, like getting back on the bus. You know, there's something about Almost Famous that every time we all see each other, it's special. More so than what the movie meant to people is what it also meant to us. It's almost like being a part of a secret club. A special, special time. I don't think you can ever really. I mean, you can get back on the bus metaphorically, but you can't ever go back.
- [36:32]
Zooey Deschanel
There was this one moment when I'm on the phone, I'm saying, I love you and I miss you. And Cameron went into a close up and my chin started to. As it does when I get upset, my chin started to wrinkle and quiver and my mouth started going pruney. And Pedro was sitting next to me on the sofa and he turned to me and he said, stop it, Mom. And I said, that's not me, that's her. I know. I do the same thing. But it was like this perfect moment of, you know, he needed it too. And he did.
- [37:02]
Jim Miller
I mean, that was a gift to him.
- [37:04]
Zooey Deschanel
It was a gift, I think, with Elaine. I know as a mother, I used to be able to sleep through anything until I met my son and started being very concerned whether he was still Breathing. The minute you start listening from one room to the next to hear if they're still breathing, you never sleep through the night again. It's just. It's one of the rules of the job. And that you start structuring your life in such a way to keep them alive and then to let them live their lives. So you start structuring your life in that way. And I think that as a single mother, Elaine had to be everything at all times. And that is a Herculean task. And that joy and happiness gets supplemented and suppressed. So I don't think. I never thought of her as a repressed or suppressed woman. I just thought she was doing a great job multitasking. There's three things for me. There's a screenplay and a well written screenplay. I mean, I certainly have done a lot of projects with horrible screenplays for many, many reasons. But for me, if the screenplay reads like a piece of literature, then 3/4 of the work is done for the possibility of it being a great film. And that was true of Almost Famous. The second thing is the process and the experience can be enough. And it certainly was. It was a deeply satisfying company experience. It just was firing on all cylinders. Everybody was at the top of their game. And it was a really exciting experience. Experience. Then you just throw the dice. Because for me, it's not an actor's medium. It's not a director's medium. It's an editor's medium. Film is about knowing how you're going to edit it. And we actors are serving the edit. We're not even serving the director or the character as much as we're serving the editing of that story in the end. So it all depends on what you've got in the can, we used to say, or what you don't. And what ends up happening in an editing room. So you can never really predict it. But I usually can from a screenplay because I enter the experience dramaturgically. And I'd like to know where I fit in the larger picture. So it's never just about my character or my experience. It's about how it fits into something larger.
- [39:44]
Jim Miller
I'm just wondering if you could just speak to the real attachment between William and Elaine in the movie and how that survives despite the fact of all the circumstances of the movie.
- [39:55]
Frances McDormand
Wow. Well, I think the inner story of Almost Famous is a lot about William and Elaine. And there's a hurt in that family. And I think the kid wants to fix things. And if he can make his mother happy or feel like he's achieved something to kind of help mend the family, which is below the surface of Almost Famous. That's really the other victory that he's going for.
- [40:28]
Jim Miller
That's why he brings his sister home.
- [40:30]
Frances McDormand
That's why he brings his sister home. And it's why he wants to teach his mother a teacher, that he can do that and not become part of the teenage wasteland, that he actually can bring home a Golden Fleece to help that family. And that's what I see when I see Almost Famous.
- [40:50]
Jim Miller
So, in a way, Elaine becomes a student.
- [40:54]
Frances McDormand
Totally. Elaine becomes a student. And that's the scene that didn't make it into the movie, which they try and teach Elaine about the greatness of Stairway to Heaven, which is really the greatness of Frances McDormand, who I believe went through two days of sitting there, being filmed, listening to Stairway to Heaven, giving you every little kind of twitch and twinkle for that sequence. But it's like you're very right on the money when you say it's about teaching Elain, the great teacher, about life, family and music. Because the original ending of the movie is she plays a song for the kids, so he's able to teach her that along with Goethe and Edgar Cayce and all the other people she named checks. You know, there is a philosopher named Neil Young. There's a philosopher named David Bowie. There's a philosopher named Joni Mitchell who has equal weight.
- [41:47]
Philip Seymour Hoffman
He bared his soul and he put his family relationships into the story as well, which was problematic. And, you know, was always. There were issues in everyone's family that he kind of. He bared all a little bit in that story, which I thought was brave and good for the family. It actually brought the family together after the movie came out, which was, you know, a wonderful thing to have happen.
- [42:16]
Frances McDormand
So many things come full circle in the whole world of Almost Famous. It is the most personal thing that I've written. And what I hear about Almost Famous now is I showed it to my kids and they dug it.
- [42:28]
Jim Miller
That's why I'm here. Sophie Miller turned 12 years old. I said, you are now ready. And we watched that Night, Night. And she said every day since. It changed her life.
- [42:37]
Frances McDormand
Why do you think it is?
- [42:39]
Jim Miller
I think because you created the perfect port of entry. You made the world accessible on an emotional level. I know you studied journalism, and in Jerry Maguire, you trace the pedigree of what it really is to be a sports agent and to be in that world and the athlete and their agent relationship and all that stuff. This was A different thing. The aperture is so wide because you bring us in. And so we. I mean, literally, that movie was like a tsunami that washed over my daughter. It just was. That's why she, for her 15th birthday, birthday, she came to me and she said, I want to go to Coachella. And I said, yeah, it's the Almost Famous thing. She goes, you showed it to me.
- [43:19]
Frances McDormand
Wow. Wow. I'm super proud of that.
- [43:23]
Jim Miller
I hope that was a good answer. I didn't.
- [43:25]
Frances McDormand
It's fantastic. Kidding me. I'm gonna steal it.
- [43:33]
Jim Miller
When I got the idea for a series called and About Origins, I knew I couldn't make it all about only my personal favorites, no matter how tempted I was to do that. But I also knew that I'd hate myself in the morning and that it'd be pointless if I failed to include some of the movies, songs, television shows or whatever that I just plain loved. Works that meant the world to me. I'm sure you have a few or many films that fit that description and occupy a hallowed spot for me. Almost Famous occupies that special place, so, so special that it would have been painful for me to leave it out. And my affection isn't purely personal. I really believe it's a film of genuine artistry and achievement. The film's impact on its audience, the large place it holds in the memories and affections of many who saw and cherished it, and who see it again whenever the opportunity arises, cannot be measured with decimal points and dollar signs. There's a magic to the movie. I'm sorry if that sounds true trite, but there you have it. In its way, Almost Famous is regarded as warmly by moviegoers of a certain age as Casablanca or the wizard of Azar by other film going generations. Thank you for joining us here at Origins with me, Jim Miller. If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them@jamesamesandrewmiller.com or you can hit me up on Twitter immiller. Stay tuned for our next chapter of Origins. I'm Jim Miller. Onward. This has been a production of Cadence 13, executive produced by me, Jim Miller and my valued colleague Chris Corcoran, who kicks ass running all content for Cadence. I do the writing and reporting for Origins, but the actual podcast is produced, edited and mastered by my brother in arms, Chris Basil, a legend. Our producer and engineer is Terence Malangone, who always makes the studio feel like home. And I also want to send a shout out to our marketing PR team, Josefina Francis, Hilary Schuff and Kurt Courtney, along with Lizzie Denahan and the rest of the sales team. Corny as it may sound, I'm damn lucky to have all these people on Team Origins.
- [46:07]
Kate Hudson
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