The Best Deleted Scene of All Time

I honestly can't believe it exists.

The first time I saw Almost Famous, it instantly became one of my all-time favorite movies. I had never before seen what it was like to be passionate about music and writing, and get to combine those interests into a career.

The film celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, but I didn’t know that when I came across it again recently. I thought I’d just watch a few minutes before moving on to something else. But it’s a movie crafted with so much care, so much heart, and I was happy to rewatch it yet again, giving it my rare undivided attention.

Afterwards, I went down an internet rabbit hole about the movie I thought I knew so well, only to discover that Almost Famous has the best deleted scene of all time.

When you watch the scene below (and I really hope you do!), it’s hard to imagine it ever making the final cut. But that’s also what makes it so special.

FYI: Frances McDormand is an Oscar winner, but it’s the guy next to her who steals the scene.

In the deleted scene, high schooler William (Patrick Fugit) is trying to convince his mother Elaine (Frances McDormand) to let him go on the road with the band Stillwater so he can interview them for Rolling Stone. To make his case, he invites his teacher, school counselor¹ and his sister’s boyfriend Darryl (Jesse Caron) to help make the case that despite his young age, Elaine should let him accept the assignment.

Elaine dislikes rock music and fears the wild rock n’ roll lifestyle will corrupt her son. Willliam yearns for his mother to know how much this music means to him, so she can understand why this reporting assignment is the opportunity of a lifetime.

William puts on “Stairway to Heaven” for Elaine, hoping by hearing this song she will love it just as much as he does. And when I say he plays the song, I mean he plays the entire eight-minute song.

Which means we as the audience watch this unlikely group of people listen to “Stairway to Heaven” without interruption for eight whole minutes. Elaine listens with mostly polite disinterest, even in the face of William and Darryl’s shared joy and Darry’s impassioned air drumming. (I honestly didn’t think of air drumming as a talent until this scene.)²

You can understand why the scene was cut. But I’m glad it exists as its own thing to be discovered, especially right now, for two reasons:

-It can be truly nerve-wracking to introduce something that is meaningful to you to another person, with the hope they will connect with it as much as you do. And this scene captures that feeling incredibly well by letting “Stairway to Heaven” play in full.

We have all been William, offering up something to another with the hope of reciprocation and understanding, and we have all been Elaine, taking in something of importance to someone else with the knowledge that our reaction is being gauged in real time. I’ve never seen the hope and awkwardness of this specific experience depicted onscreen before. McDormand’s facial expressions as the song goes on—and on and on—is truly something to behold.

-One of the pleasures of Almost Famous is that because it is set in the 1970s, you never have to watch characters get distracted by their phone or take selfies or doomscroll. That is what makes this scene such a standout.

When Williams plays “Stairway to Heaven” for this random assortment of people—three middle-aged women and a college-aged guy, all of whom are basically strangers to each other—it is profoundly odd yet lovely to see them simply listen. Elaine reaches for a newspaper and pages through it, but otherwise, they just experience the song communally. They don’t even talk over it. The group remains attuned throughout the eight-minute song.

A scene like this set in 2025 is a virtual impossibility. And it’s not just that social media has sapped our attention spans so that we reach for our phones whenever we experience a few seconds of anxiety or boredom. It’s how algorithms have trained us to only care about things we know we’ll enjoy, and it’s hard to break us out of our bubbles to give our undivided attention to a song we did not choose to listen to.

Watching this scene made me sad about how what we have gained with advancements in technology has come at the cost of our ability to give our full attention to art, and to each other.

*

Before William plays the song for his mother, he tells her, “This song will change your life.” By the end of it, Elaine is still not a fan, but the song does change her life.

She experiences “Stairway to Heaven” through the reactions of her son, the way he beams when he hears a lyric that resonates with him, and when he begins to rock out as the song kicks into high gear. Witnessing his joy is why Elaine gives him permission to join the band on the road, and it is an experience that will change his life.

And this might sound silly, but I’m going to say it anyway: I think watching this scene changed my life a little too. It made me think about how often I shift to second screens and online distractions. And since then, I am working on being more fully engaged and present, from reading in silence to listening to music with my eyes closed.

Back when I was William’s age, this ability to be absorbed into the art that mattered to me is why I became an artist myself. And I am thankful to one of my favorite movies for this timely reminder.

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Reading recs:

Annika Sharma’s open letter to high-profile Diwali parties.

Erin Carlson’s thoughts on the Parisian heist and her tribute to Diane Keaton.

Stephanie Wrobel on why she killed various writing projects, and why she has no regrets in doing so.

And Regina Black and I discuss how 90s-era soap operas influence our novel writing.

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Thanks for reading if you made it his far! And wishing you a good week ahead.

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1. This role is played by director Cameron Crowe’s real-life mother. The movie draws on Crowe’s real-life career as a teenage rock journalist and his relationship with his mother, so it’s fun to see Crowe’s mother and her fictional counterpart sharing the screen.

2. If nothing else, this is worth watching for how many times McDormand comes close to laughing in the face of Caron’s theatrics. He’s honestly as integral to this scene’s success as she is.