Watch Frances McDormand’s deleted scene from ‘Almost Famous’
Name a Frances McDormand role that you didn’t enjoy, we’ll wait. The three-time Oscar-winning actor has spent over three decades playing some of the most complex, interesting and hilarious women on the big screen. From the pregnant police officer in 1996’s Fargo to the van-dwelling wayfarer in Nomadland 24 years later, every performance has been drastically different and yet utterly compelling.
One of McDormand’s best performances in her incredible filmography, however, was in Almost Famous as Elaine Miller, a college professor, rock and roll sceptic and mother to a budding music journalist. Despite her supporting character status, McDormand’s powerhouse performance stole the movie. However, one pivotal scene that truly captured the essence of her character never even made it to the final cut.
In the now-deleted scene from the 2000 semi-autobiographical film from Cameron Crowe, Elaine finds herself tasked with enduring the entire eight minutes and two seconds of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’. After returning home and being informed that her son has been offered an assignment from Rolling Stone and needs to miss four days of school for it, Elaine promptly denies the request.
In a last bid for approval, a hilarious decision is made by her son and friends — to let the pure power of music convince her. The Zeppelin record is put on, and we listen to (and watch) its entire eight minutes. It’s a genuinely hilarious treat. Throughout the duration of the song, Elaine reads a newspaper as the others earnestly bop their head and mimic playing drums to the 1971 classic, seemingly oblivious to her absolute nonchalance regarding the tune.
The song finishes, and the young music fans are unwaveringly confident in the fact that the Led Zeppelin track has completely and utterly reformed Elaine on her stance on the music scene, on her son’s journalistic endeavours — on life itself. Of course, they’re totally wrong. Director Crowe reflected on the experience, saying: “Frances made listening the most entertaining thing I’d ever seen. I was sure that we’d have the full length of the scene, and it would just be a hilarious intermission kind of thing in the movie.”
Unfortunately, the scene didn’t make the final cut due to Led Zeppelin denying the use of their song. Instead, Crowe was given permission to use other Zeppelin tracks such as ‘Bron-Yr-Aur’ and ‘The Rain Song’. Despite the absence of the original scene, the essence of McDormand’s character in Almost Famous remains intact, securing her a nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.
Ultimately, while McDormand’s nomination for Almost Famous didn’t earn her an Oscar on this occasion, her unforgettable performance continues to captivate audiences. Considering her suggestion a few years ago to the Academy, where after picking up her third Oscar for Nomadland, she proposed bringing in a karaoke bar, perhaps next year we might see McDormand perform ‘Stairway to Heaven’ herself — air-drumming and all.
