Almost Famous star Patrick Fugit unrecognizable 25 years after breakout
The 42-year-old actor who played William Miller in the Oscar-winning film has stepped away from Hollywood and relocated to Texas with his family.
Patrick Fugit, now 42, rose to fame as William Miller in Cameron Crowe's 2000 film Almost Famous, earning a Screen Actors Guild nomination for his screen acting debut. The Oscar-winning drama, which follows a budding rock journalist who joins a touring band, established Fugit as one of the era's most recognizable young actors.
Interviews with the actor describe a formative but brief moment in Hollywood. The cast included Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup, and Fugit has recalled being 16 during filming and developing a crush on Hudson, who played Penny Lane. He has said the screen test with Hudson felt magnetic and that the on-set energy helped shape his teenage experience on the project. The film’s success helped launch his career, even as he later chose a quieter path away from the spotlight. In recent years, Fugit has reflected on how the experience influenced his life and career, including his eventual decision to step back from Hollywood.
Since Almost Famous, Fugit has continued acting in projects such as We Bought a Zoo, First Man and Gone Girl, and he later appeared in the HBO miniseries Love & Death. His last on-screen role to date came with that limited series, after which he opted to distance himself from the mainstream film industry.
In interviews cited by outlets including People magazine, Fugit described seeking a more ordinary life with his partner and their child. He has said he grew up in Utah and did not resonate with Los Angeles’ energy, which contributed to his desire for a different pace and environment. He and his family ultimately relocated to Texas, where they cultivated a quieter, more self-contained lifestyle that included a garden and farm-leaning ambitions. Those choices reflect a broader pattern of child actors recalibrating their lives after early fame, choosing privacy and steadier routines over the volatility of Hollywood.
While Almost Famous remains Fugit's defining screen credit, the star's career arc illustrates the complexities of growing up in the limelight and then navigating life beyond it. He continues to be a point of reference for a generation that saw a young actor rise to prominence and later opt for a lower-profile, family-centered life away from the camera.