Almost Famous, which was woefully underappreciated, had three actors who deserved supporting nods. Billy Crudup, who played Russell, the lead guitarist in the film’s fictional band, Stillwater, was remarkably intense as the musician who considered going out on his own. Consider his reaction to the conversation Russell had with William (the lead character)’s mom. Jason Lee, who played the band’s lead singer, Jeff Bebe, was the perfect foil to Crudup. He seethed through the film and you believed his anger. When I mentioned to Lee in October that I thought that he deserved a nomination, he laughed. But after a few minutes, I think that I had him convinced. Consider that two actresses received supporting nods for this film and maybe this argument won’t seem that outlandish. And who can forget Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance as rock writer Lester Bangs?