While it's hard to imagine anyone but Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond in Cameron Crowe's 2000 classic Almost Famous, Pitt was originally set to play the complicated rocker. But, according to the writer and director, who wrote the part with the star in mind, Pitt worked with Crowe for months before ultimately leaving the project, making way for Crudup to have his breakthrough performance.
"His head was still in Fight Club and the part was a little underwritten. It was the most underwritten in the script, and he couldn't trust it enough," Crowe told AL.com in 2014. "I've talked to him since. I love the guy. I think he's hilarious, and I thought he would have been funny in the movie. If I had waited a few more months, he might have come around to it, but we had to get going. But Billy Crudup worked out great."