
Brad Pitt was originally chosen to play the role of Stillwater’s lead guitarist, Russell Hammond, but backed out four months later. “I wept,” director Cameron Crowe laughs. “But I think in the back of my brain, I knew that he had never fully fallen in love with the character.”

Crowe wrote a part specifically for
@DavidBowieReal, but after the release of Austin Powers in 1997, “the idea of a foppish British rock star was suddenly a comical thing.” Hence, he changed the film’s angle to make it about an American band instead.

The film was nearly called Untitled, as a reference to Led Zeppelin’s fourth album. However, the studio refused to go ahead with the name, and Almost Famous was chosen instead.