Although Fugit has subsequently had supporting roles in such little-seen films as "White Oleander" and "Saved!", he still is best known for the movie he made six years ago. Even now, he says, people who recognize him on the street are most likely to blurt, "Oh, you're that kid from 'Almost Famous.' "

But with three new movies in the can, including one at the Sundance Film Festival this week, that may be about to change. Fugit has the lead in "Wristcutters: A Love Story," a quirky film about suicide victims navigating the afterlife. The movie premiers Monday in Park City.

"It's a love story and a comedy in kind of a dark way. I don't read a lot of stuff that's this original," said Fugit, now 23. "This is a good one. And it was a fun one for me because I get to play an adult instead of a high-school student."

Fugit plays Zia, a depressed young man who kills himself over an ex-girlfriend, only to find himself wandering a dreary new world where nobody smiles and jukeboxes play only suicide heroes like Kurt Cobain. Zia soon learns that his ex also has joined the afterlife, so he sets out on a quest to find her.

"Wristcutters" is directed by Croatian-born Goran Dukic, who adapted it from a novella by Israeli writer Etgar Keret. Workshopped two years ago at a Sundance screenwriter's lab, it is Dukic's first feature film.

In casting his lead role, Dukic said he thought immediately of Fugit, whom he remembered from - what else? - "Almost Famous."

"The audience sees the whole movie through the eyes of the main character, and I wanted him to have this naive, innocent look," Dukic said. "My only fear was that he was too young for this movie."

Despite "Wristcutters' " melancholy tone, Dukic finds the story strangely optimistic. And he believes audiences will recognize its anti-suicide message.

"You cannot escape from yourself even if you commit suicide," he said. "Zia figures out that he didn't achieve anything with his suicide because he still has all the same problems."

Dukic's biggest challenge may have been creating the distinctive feel of "Wristcutters' " netherworld. He shot the film in shabby, industrialized sections of Los Angeles, and bleached the colors to make his actors look pale. Because nobody shows much emotion in this afterlife, Dukic also told his cast not to smile.

"It was interesting to play an entire role in a movie without smiling," Fugit said. "That was the hardest part [of the role] - having to show that you're happy without smiling or laughing."

Fugit plans to attend at least several of "Wristcutters' " Sundance screenings. It's an easy trip for him - he still lives in his parents' Salt Lake City basement.

"All my family and my closest friends are here," said the East High School graduate when asked why he hasn't left Utah for, say, L.A. "I love being around that."

Despite his non-Hollywood lifestyle, Fugit remains busy as an actor. In the past year he has filmed "The Moguls," a Jeff Bridges comedy about a small-town huckster who makes a porn film; and "Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas," a comedy-romance about a shy, brainy college student whose world gets rocked when a girl steals his journal.

Whatever happens with "Wristcutters" or these other movies, Fugit will always have fond memories of "Almost Famous," which he saw last on DVD about three years ago.

"It was such a fun experience, and it's preserved for me there on film," he said. "It's the reason my life is the way it is."

griggs@sltrib.com