'00s child star Patrick Fugit won hearts the world over with his portrayal of an aspiring rock journalist in the cult classic film Almost Famous, yet disappeared from the spotlight after leaving LA with his wife and young son in 2022. His last appearance was in the 2023 miniseries Love & Death alongside Elizabeth Olsen, where he was unrecognizable from his days as a child star. Patrick looked suave at the HBO show's premiere in a black three-piece suit complete with a black pocket square. He wore his gray hair in a slicked-back style as he flashed a shy smile at the camera.
Patrick rose to fame in the 2000 flick Almost Famous as William Miller, a 15-year-old writer tasked with following a rock band around and documenting their rise. While on his journey, he meets groupie Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson. She garnered an Oscar nomination for her role, while Patrick nabbed a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination himself.
The 42-year-old reminisced about the life-changing experience of working on the film in an interview with People conducted 25 years after its release. "I screen tested with Kate Hudson, and she was very magnetic and very captivating," he recalled. "I was 16. I was like, 'Yes, I will be excited to do scenes with her.'"
"It was seven months of my life. I was 16 years old," he continued. "I had developed my full-on crush on Kate Hudson, and that had sort of subsided. And it was all very pivotal or developmental in a mid-teenager's life…It felt very mystical, it felt romantic, it felt exciting, and all of those things that come across in those scenes."
After his breakout role, Patrick went on to appear in films like Saved!, We Bought A Zoo, Gone Girl and Queen of Earth. As for TV roles, he acted in Full Circle, Outcast, and Treadstone, and has also produced Must Come Down, How to Speak Clearly, A Name Without a Place and My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To.
© FilmMagicThe star decided to make the move from LA to Texas around 2022 with his wife, Jenny Del Rosario, and their son Ryker, who was born in 2019. "I grew up in Utah, and LA's energy never resonated with me," he told People of the monumental decision. "My wife and I, we had our first kid in 2019, and we were in LA, and we had spent a couple of years there."
© Ron Galella Collection via Getty"2020 was a very dynamic period of time in LA, and it was not, in fact, dynamism that we really liked," he explained. "We also wanted to have chickens and goats and a big garden and a trampoline in a backyard and cool [expletive] that we have now for our kid." He added that moving to Texas allowed them to live slower lives and enjoy their own space.
© Getty Images for IMDb"I love being out, and we're in a fairly rural place out here, and I love it," he said, sharing that he can still audition for projects online, allowing him the freedom to come and go from LA.
