“I feel like I’ve been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I’m just now waking up.”
Alan Ball originally began writing American Beauty as a play. At first he intended to write a story about Amy Fisher, the “Long Island Lolita” who shot lover Joey Buttafuoco’s wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco in 1992. When Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Time Bandits, Twelve Monkeys) turned down the chance to direct, the executive producer Steven Spielberg offered the project to English stage director Sam Mendes. Well known for directing plays in London’s West End, at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, he was best known in the U.S. for his critically acclaimed 1998 stage production of Cabaret. American Beauty was his film directing debut . Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening were both Mendes’ first choices for the roles of Lester and Carolyn Burnham, although Chevy Chase, Jeff Daniels and Tom Hanks had all been considered for Lester. Tom Hanks later starred in Mendes’s follow-up movie, Road to Perdition (2002). In the original version of the script there was a separate storyline that included Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper) having a gay lover who dies in Vietnam. Cooper was the last role to be cast, and wasn’t offered it until rehearsals had begun. Wes Bentley, a young film actor whose parents are both ministers, was the first to read for the role of Ricky Fitts – beating out Jake Gyllenhaal for the part. The title, ‘American Beauty’ refers to a breed of rose that while pretty in appearance, is often prone to rot at the roots. So the tagline: ‘look closer’ is saying when you look past the so-called ‘perfect’ suburban life – you’ll find something rancid.
