Cameron Crowe talks about how Gregg Allman inspired ‘Almost Famous’
After celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary last month, Cameron Crowe continues to break down the haunting inspiration behind the film. Almost famous.
Oscar winner, whose memoir Not cool Available now He said he “broke down” while recording the part of his audiobook that touched on Allman Brothers Band lead singer Gregg Allman, who inspired the film’s rock star character Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup).
“I had a real wound that was still there because of this violent thing that happened between us when he got all the tapes back,” he recalls. USA Todaydecades after Allman interviewed L Rolling Stone. “He vaguely threatened me, called me an FBI cop. He was like, ‘Who do you think you are?’ How old are you? Are you 16?’ I just remember being scared, and this was a band I loved.
Crowe continued, “I thought, ‘Oh, wow, maybe I’m not just a kid in a candy store who can ask anyone anything. Maybe I asked too many questions about his dead brother. I’ve done something wrong, and I’m going to get fired from ever writing.'” Rolling Stone once again.’ I had to stop reading the audiobook and pull myself together. But as my mom says, you never know good or bad luck, because he gave me my tapes back. It gave me the story I became Almost famousHe taught me that the risks were high. If you have the opportunity to write about something that is important to you, be prepared and do it right.
In Almost Famous, 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is hired to accompany his favorite band Stillwater on tour for a Rolling Stone article. While he becomes fascinated with the legendary “Band-Aid” Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), he has a hard time landing an interview with elusive guitarist Russell (Crudup).
From left: Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit and director Cameron Crowe on the set of the 2000 film “Almost Famous”
“Ultimately, a lot of that came from this difficult thing that happened with the Allman Brothers Band,” Crowe added. “I was able to see Greg before he died, and in a strange way, I had an unspoken conversation about what happened between us. I thanked him for that.” Almost famousAnd he said to him: “Welcome to you.”
Allman died in 2017 due to complications from liver cancer. He was 69 years old.