It's ironic that Patrick Fugit is starring in a film titled "Almost Famous." After all, there are at least two reasons why he probably should have remained exactly that.
First of all, the Salt Lake teenager had relatively little acting experience going into the new comedy-drama — just appearances in local theater productions, a handful of guest spots on TV's "Touched by an Angel" and "Promised Land" and a thankfully brief supporting role in a television movie that is probably best forgotten (the Fox network's "Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!").
Then there's the fact that very few people close to him — including his talent agents, representatives from Salt Lake's McCarty Agency — believed stardom was lurking right around the corner.
"It's not that (the McCarty representatives) didn't believe in my talent or in me," Fugit said during an interview to publicize the opening of the film. "But they were just being realistic. They kept warning me, 'Don't expect to get the part. We're just trying to get your face out there, have you be seen by filmmakers.' "
When writer/director Cameron Crowe announced the casting call for his new film, the agency went ahead and sent in a copy of Fugit's audition tape, which then got lost somewhere between Utah and Hollywood. And usually that would be the end of the story. But Crowe and casting director Gail Levin, who were looking for a "fresh face" to star in the film, asked him to fly out to Hollywood to do a screen test.
"Once the tape got lost, we pretty much thought that was the end," Fugit said. "But then I had to do the screen test, which was pretty frightening. I was really nervous. I thought for sure I had bombed."
However, to nearly everyone's surprise, Crowe saw something in the now-17-year-old actor and cast him in probably the most pivotal role of the film, which is a semi-autobiographical piece based loosely on Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist during the 1970s.
In "Almost Famous," Fugit plays Crowe's alter ego, William Miller, an unpopular but bright teen (and advanced student) who manages to escape from his humdrum life because of rock 'n' roll music.
Mentored by legendary critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), William begins interviewing musical acts. But he loses his objectivity when he falls in with one of his subjects, up-and-coming act Stillwater, as well as groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).
Fugit said he may have had an advantage over the other actors auditioning for the part because he is, to some extent, very similar to the character of William. Like him, Fugit is an advanced student (though he should be in his senior year at East High School, he's graduating early). He's also convinced he wasn't one of the most popular students in school.
"I'd always have a lot of friends, but I definitely wasn't worshipped by everybody," he said. "The girls there never wanted to talk to me back then."
However, that's changed drastically now. Fugit had nearly 150 of his friends and family with him to watch an early screening of the film last week at the Century Theatres 16. "One of the greatest days of my life is when the poster for the film went up in that theater," he said. "Now everybody wants to say they know me, that they were always friends with me."
It should be noted, of course, that only Fugit's name is displayed on the poster. The actual face that graces the poster is Hudson, daughter of Goldie Hawn, with whom Fugit has his first screen kiss. "I'd have to say that was one of the biggest moments in my acting career," he said a bit sheepishly. "I mean, up to now, all I've really played is the kid who was mean to the lead character."
Another major change has taken place in Fugit's musical appreciation. He said he wasn't actually much of a rock fan before making "Almost Famous," but thanks to the movie, he's become one. (Among his current faves are '70s hard-rockers Led Zeppelin.)
He also boasts of his new rock T-shirt collection, which was inspired by his musically obsessed director.
"If you think you're going to work with Cameron Crowe and not get into his music, you're crazy," Fugit said. "But he doesn't force it on you. He doesn't force anything on you, which really makes things easier."
In fact, Fugit has nothing but praise for his open-minded director, as well as his fellow cast members (who include not only Hudson but Billy Crudup, Hoffman and Oscar-winner Frances McDormand), for making his first big-screen experience such a joy. "You'd probably think it would be hard to be onscreen with such talented people, but you'd be surprised how much more relaxing that is.
"If my vote counted at all, I'd definitely vote for all of 'em to get an Oscar."
"Almost Famous" is already emerging as one of the year's strongest Oscar candidates, a point that isn't lost on the young actor. "It's hard to not let that go to your head. One day, you're a nobody, and the next you're in a movie that everybody is talking about. But Hollywood has a way of knocking you back down to Earth."
If he has changed much since the film wrapped, those changes have been largely physical. In the year that followed, Fugit shot up several inches in height, and his voice has gone down at least one octave.
That new gangliness may cost him a chance at playing the Marvel Comics character "Spider-Man" (he reportedly read for the role, but the filmmakers thought Fugit was perhaps a bit "too tall and awkward" to play the smaller, somewhat balletic superhero).
But he hasn't let that setback get him down. He's kept busy by reading for other movie roles — evidence that he plans to make acting his life's work — though he is planning to stick around in Utah for at least a while.
"Hollywood's great, but this is where my friends and family are," Fugit said. "I'm not in that big of a hurry to get out of here."
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com