Kate Hudson Used 'An Amalgamation Of Different Women' To Inspire Penny Lane In Almost Famous
Writer/director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical 2000 film "Almost Famous" captures the magical allure of the music industry, complete with the diehard artists and fans who dedicate their lives to it. Kate Hudson stars in the movie as Penny Lane, a young blonde woman who bewitches the up-and-coming band Stillwater, along with the wide-eyed, impressionable young reporter covering their journey (Patrick Fugit's William Miller), while the band is on tour in 1973. In the film, she explains that she isn't a groupie. Lane clarifies, "Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We are here because of the music, we inspire the music. We are band-aides."
The traditionally judgmental perspective of what a groupie entails is explored through Lane's passion for the music, freedom of living on the road, and learning to love without commitment despite still facing heartbreak. She's a complicated character with complicated beliefs, and Hudson's portrayal of her was inspired by a variety of equally fascinating real-life women.
Never take it seriously
Over 20 years after the film's release, the character of Penny Lane continues to attract admirers and is considered to be Kate Hudson's breakout role. Her poignant performance landed Hudson an Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. In a 2020 interview with Independent, Cameron Crowe declared that "Kate was magic" and "lit up the room."
While Hudson told Independent that Penny Lane was inspired by "an amalgamation of women," it was famous rock groupie Pamela De Barres that primarily influenced Crowe. Donning a similar bright smile and curly hair, De Barres romanced legends like Frank Zappa, Jimmy Page, Jim Morrison, and Keith Moon. She detailed her experiences in her 1987 memoir, "I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie." De Barres is well-aware of her influence on the film, but is not a huge fan. In a 2020 interview with Vulture, she complained that Lane "was not owning herself, not owning groupiedom and what it actually means." While she doesn't hate the movie, De Barres felt upset that Lane was "stolen" and her character was "ripped off" from her since she was not a consultant on the film.
Hudson also studied the real Penny Lane aka Pennie Trumbull, who was known for forming a group of band promoters called the Flying Garter Girls Group. Each of the girls had nicknames similar to the band-aide crew in "Almost Famous," which consisted of Polexia Aphrodisia (Anna Paquin), Sapphire (Fairuza Balk), and Estrella Starr (Bijou Phillips). "I chatted with so many wives of the rock stars of that time. It was a wild time, and the rules were very different. [Penny] sort of captured the freedom and free love and living a nomadic g**** lifestyle in the world of rock'n'roll," Hudson told Independent.
It's all happening
Another influence on Penny Lane was Bebe Buell, an actor and Playboy model who dated Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, David Bowie, and Steven Tyler. She's actually the mother of beloved actor Liv Tyler. Unlike Pamela De Barres, Buell rejected the groupie title. In a 2020 interview with High Times, Buell stated the image of the groupie is vastly different these days and she identifies as a muse instead. "I just think it's inevitable if you're with somebody artistic, you're going to be part of their art," Buell explained.
Cameron Crowe attempted to shine a different light on the rock scene in "Almost Famous" by drawing from his own experience working as a young rock journalist. His intentions seemed good and most aspects were meant to be empowering, like the differentiation between "groupie" and "band-aide." However, the girls were still considered to be sex symbols filtered through a young male gaze, one-dimensional characters, and existed for primarily entertainment purposes.
Whether labeled groupie, muse, or band-aide, the women in the film and those who inspired it were the ones who stole the screen. Personally, I love "Almost Famous" and think it's a fantastic film, but yes, it has its conflicting narratives. I'd love to see the women who influenced Penny Lane's character come together and use their own stories for a film. Scratch the starry-eyed male gaze and give me the raw, wild, and lovelorn perspective of the women behind the curtains. Like how Penny Lane attempted to rewrite the narrative of what a groupie entails, I saw we popularize allowing the creative inspirations speak for themselves and reclaim their own experiences.