Jackson and his brother Bobby, played by Sam Elliott, have a volatile, jealousy-fueled relationship in the film and several heartbreaking moments. Cooper pitched the role and movie to Elliott over dinner. "I pitched him this whole idea about how this young musician had this older brother and he wanted to be him so much and he kind of took his voice. But Sam's character also wanted to be a musician and envied the fact that Jackson had this talent of songwriting."