Patrick Fugit
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
"During the movie, Cameron [Crowe] said, 'I want rock and roll just coming out of your pores.' I was like, 'All right, I can do that, I'm an actor,' and I started listening to some music and I was like, 'I don't know, I'm not feeling it.' And then I started listening to it more and more, and now that's what I do. I fall asleep listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd."---Patrick Fugit to "Almost Famous" co-star Billy Crudup, quoted in Interview September 2000
"I definitely didn't wanna make him look like an ass. I really sometimes felt bad about, you know, how dorky the character would get and how dorky I'd make him look."---Fugit on the pressures of playing a character in "Almost Famous" based on his director Cameron Crowe, quoted in Interview September 2000
Biography
Patrick Fugit was an American actor whose eternally boyish looks and willingness to take on any part, no matter how strange, made him a recognizable face in film and television throughout the 21st century. Born on October 27, 1982 in Salt Lake City, UT, Fugit began acting professionally when he was still a teenager, making his screen debut with a small arc on the religious drama series "Touched By an Angel" (CBS, 1994-2003). However, his film debut would be the role that ended up defining his career: Fugit was only seventeen when he was cast in the lead role of Cameron Crowe's autobiographical comedic drama "Almost Famous" (2000). In the film, Fugit played William Miller, an aspiring rock journalist in the early 70s who ditches his senior year of high school to go on tour with the (fictional) hard rock band Stillwater and write about the experience for Rolling Stone magazine, much to the consternation of his overprotective academic mother (Frances McDormand). "Almost Famous" was a modest hit at the box office, but was praised by critics, earned Crowe an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and made Fugit one of the most in-demand young actors in Hollywood practically overnight. For his next role, Fugit stepped outside of his comfort zone, playing a naive speed addict named Frisbee in the stylish, kinetic indie drama "Spun" (2002). After a small featured role on "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009), Fugit returned to the indie film world, taking on the role of a skateboarding son of a pastor in the Catholic school satire "Saved!" (2004), and a young man who commits suicide only to find himself in a strange purgatory that's just slightly worse than real life in the bizarre black comedy "Wristcutters: A Love Story" (2006). Fugit largely focused on TV for a while, most notably making an appearance on "House" (FOX, 2004-2012), before landing his biggest movie role in years, playing a somewhat dimwitted detective in David Fincher's adaptation of "Gone Girl" (2014). For his next project, Fugit returned to TV, playing a man struggling with a bad case of demonic possession in small town West Virginia, in Robert Kirkman and Paul Azteca's supernatural horror series "Outsider" (Cinemax, 2016-). Fugit next landed a supporting role in "First Man" (2018), director Damien Chazelle's biopic of astronaut Neil Armstrong, starring Ryan Gosling.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1995
Made acting debut in a school production of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
1997
Made TV debut with a small arc on "Touched by an Angel."
1998
Played an early victim of deadly insects in the Fox TV-movie "Legion of Fire: Killer Ants"
2000
Made a cameo in the CBS TV-movie "Beyond the Prarie: the True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder"
2000
Made film debut in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous."
2002
Co-starred with Alison Lohman in the drama "White Oleander"
2002
Played Frisbee in the drug addiction drama "Spun."
2004
Co-starred with Jena Malone and Mandy Moore in the dark comedy about religion "Saved"
2006
Co-starred in "The Amateurs," an independent comedy about a sleepy town that comes together to film a porno
2006
Played the title character in the coming-of-age comedy "Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas"
2007
Landed lead role in "Wristcutters: A Love Story."
2009
Cast as snake boy Evra Von in the feature adaptation of "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant"
2011
Landed a featured role in the HBO movie "Cinema Verite"
2011
Reunited with director Cameron Crowe with a role in the family feature "We Bought a Zoo," starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson
2016
Starred in horror series "Outcast."
Videos
Movie Clip
Family
Bibliography
Notes
"During the movie, Cameron [Crowe] said, 'I want rock and roll just coming out of your pores.' I was like, 'All right, I can do that, I'm an actor,' and I started listening to some music and I was like, 'I don't know, I'm not feeling it.' And then I started listening to it more and more, and now that's what I do. I fall asleep listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd."---Patrick Fugit to "Almost Famous" co-star Billy Crudup, quoted in Interview September 2000
"I definitely didn't wanna make him look like an ass. I really sometimes felt bad about, you know, how dorky the character would get and how dorky I'd make him look."---Fugit on the pressures of playing a character in "Almost Famous" based on his director Cameron Crowe, quoted in Interview September 2000
"Patrick had that Alfred E. Neuman hair and that wide-eyed quality. He was the real deal."The most important thing to me was that Patrick really is a fan. When you see him in the film, looking around a room and absorbing everything, that's exactly how I was."---Cameron Crowe on Fugit, to Time Out New York September 7-14, 2000
Fugit, who reportedly only previously owned one CD, Chumbawumba's 'Tubthumper' prior to "Almost Famous", on taking the role of rock fanatic William Miller: "Cameron [Crowe] said, 'Do you listen to rock?' and I said no. I actually thought Led Zepplin was one person. But then he said 'That's all right, we forgive you.' I put on Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and I've been musically obsessed ever since."---Fugit quoted in US Weekly October 9, 2000.
"I don't know how you fail drama, but I did it really well." --Fugit talking about his unsuccessful stint in a ninth-grade drama class to US Weekly October 9, 2000
