For the part of the charismatic Dean Moriarty, Salles had earmarked Tron: Legacy's Garrett Hedlund as the man for the job. For Hedlund, a boyhood fan of the book, it was a part beyond his wildest dreams. "On The Road is extremely special to me, because when I first read it at 16 or 17, I looked it up online and it said Francis Ford Coppola was producing it or directing it," Hedlund told us back in 2010. "I said 'Great, I'll never get a chance at this.' Now I'm playing Dean Moriarty and I couldn't be happier."

Indeed, Hedlund was so committed to the project that he spent two years turning down potentially conflicting projects while the film waited for financial backing. "I had been attached to it since September 2007," explains the star, "and I think, man, if I hadn't been able to do it, a part of me would definitely drowned a little bit." Fortunately, his faith was rewarded, and Hedlund became the second of Salles' three leads to take up the offer at the second time of asking…