It was not exactly a recipe for legendary music video success: the director wasn’t really a fan of the band, and they’d already shot a moody performance video that they seemed perfectly happy with.

But a weird thing happened on the way to Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” becoming one of the most iconic music videos of all time: Director Mark Pellington locked himself in a room and listened to the intense track from the Seattle band’s 1991 debut, Ten, over and over again — and realized he did have something to say, and that Eddie Vedder and an unknown 12 year-old child star were the perfect vehicles for him to express that with.

Find more behind-the-scenes info about the video for “Jeremy” here.

Photo Credit: VEVO