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American Beauty

1999

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Carolina Lancaster

Carolina Lancaster is known for American Beauty (1999), Orange County (2002) and Motown Live (1998).

Krista Goodsitt

Cast · Known for American Beauty

Krista Goodsitt is known for American Beauty (1999) and Georgia Rule (2007).

Julie Weiss

Costume Design · Known for American Beauty, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, No Strings Attached

Julie Weiss is an American costume designer for film, television and theater. She received a Tony Award nomination for the original Broadway production of The Elephant Man and won Emmy Awards for The Dollmaker and A Woman of Independent Means. Her film work includes Testament, Tequila Sunrise, Steel Magnolias, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, American Beauty, The Ring and Blades of Glory, and she received Academy Award nominations for Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys and Julie Taymor's Frida.

Julie Hayek

Julie Lynne Hayek (born October 4, 1960) is an American beauty queen and actress who was Miss USA 1983. Hayek is of Czech and German descent on her father's side and Norwegian, Scottish, Irish, and English on her mother's side. Her father was an airline pilot and her mother, a high school guidance counselor. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in biology.

Marian McKnight

Marian McKnight (born December 19, 1936) is a former American beauty pageant winner and actress.

Deborah Shelton

Cast · Known for Dallas

Deborah 'Debbie' Shelton (born November 21, 1948) is an American beauty queen and actress who held the Miss USA title and appeared on Dallas for three seasons. Description above from the Wikipedia article Deborah Shelton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Alan Ball

Writer · Executive Producer · Director · Known for American Beauty, Banshee, Six Feet Under

Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television. He is particularly notable for writing American Beauty and True Blood and for creating Six Feet Under, work which earned him an Academy Award, an Emmy, and awards from the Writers, Directors, and Producers Guilds. Ball was born in Marietta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker. His older sister, Mary Ann, was killed in a car accident when Ball was 13; he was in the passenger seat at the time. He attended high school in Marietta, and went on to attend the University of Georgia and Florida State University, from which he graduated in 1980 with a degree in theater arts. After college, he began work as a playwright at the General Nonsense Theater Company in Sarasota, Florida. Ball broke into television as a writer and story editor on the situation comedies Grace Under Fire and Cybill. Ball has written two films, American Beauty (1999) and Towelhead (2007), the latter of which he also produced and directed. He is also the creator, writer and executive producer of the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and True Blood. He was showrunner for True Blood for its first five seasons. In 2010 Ball began work on a television adaptation of the crime noir novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston, to be titled All Signs of Death. In December 2010, after several months of pre-production, HBO cancelled production on All Signs of Death. He is also one of the executive producers of the Cinemax series Banshee. In January 2015, it was announced that Ball's period musical drama Virtuoso had had a pilot ordered by HBO. The pilot will be executively produced by Elton John. Confirmed actors to be starring in the show include Peter Macdissi, Iva Babic, Francois Civil, Lindsay Farris, Nico Mirallegro and Alex Lawther. For his work in television and film, Ball has received critical acclaim and numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, an Emmy a Golden Globe, and awards from the Writers, Directors, and Producers Guilds.

Chris Cooper

Cast · Known for Cars 3, The Bourne Identity, American Beauty

Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including American Beauty (1999), October Sky (1999), The Bourne Identity (2002), Seabiscuit (2003), Capote (2005), Syriana (2005), The Kingdom (2007), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), The Town (2010), The Muppets (2011), Cars 3 (2017), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), and Little Women (2019). He also portrayed Sheriff July Johnson in the acclaimed miniseries Lonesome Dove, which became one of the most successful Westerns in history. Cooper won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as John Laroche in the 2002 film Adaptation. He played a lead role in the historical and political thriller Breach (2007), playing FBI agent and traitor Robert Hanssen. He played Daniel Sloan in the 2012 political thriller The Company You Keep, and supervillain Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). He also portrayed Al Templeton on the 2016 Hulu miniseries 11.22.63. He is a frequent collaborator with director John Sayles, including Matewan (1987), City of Hope (1991), Lone Star (1996), Silver City (2004) and Amigo (2010). Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Cooper, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Sam Robards

Cast · Known for American Beauty

Sam Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for his film roles in American Beauty (1999) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). For his performance in the Broadway production of The Man Who Had All the Luck, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sam Robards, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Peter Gallagher

Cast · Known for The O.C., American Beauty

Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), American Beauty (1999), and Palm Springs (2020).

Mena Suvari

Cast · Known for American Beauty, American Pie

Mena Alexandra Suvari (born February 13, 1979) is an American actress, producer, fashion designer, and model. She's best known for her roles as Angela Hayes in American Beauty, Heather in the American Pie film series, Coty Pierce in Kiss the Girls, Edie on HBO's Six Feet Under (for which she earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination), Francesca Bonacieux in The Musketeer (2001), Joanne in Beauty Shop, Annie Huttinger in Rumor Has It..., Isabella on the second season of NBC's Chicago Fire, Maria Abascal on WEtv's South of Hell, and Kathleen on Paramount's dramedy American Woman. After beginning her career as a model and guest-starring on several television shows, she made her film debut in the 1997 drama Nowhere. She rose to international prominence with her appearances in the critically acclaimed drama American Beauty (1999), for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her other notable film credits include Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Loser (2000), Sugar & Spice (2001), Sonny (2002), Spun (2003), Trauma (2004), Domino (2005), Factory Girl (2006), Brooklyn Rules, Stuck (both 2007), Day of the Dead (2008), and You May Not Kiss the Bride (2010). She also portrayed Elizabeth Short in the anthology series American Horror Story: Murder House (2011), and reprised the part in American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018). She has been a model for Lancôme cosmetics and print ads for Lancôme Paris Adaptîve, as well as a long-time supporter and activist for the Starlight Children's Foundation and the African Medical and Research Foundation. She is married and has one child. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mena Suvari, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Thora Birch

Cast · Known for Hocus Pocus, American Beauty

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). She came to prominence in 1999 after earning worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty. She then starred in the well received film Ghost World (2001), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Reshma Gajjar

Reshma Gajjar (born 21 August 1989, California) is a first-generation American actress, dancer, and interdisciplinary performing artist of Indian (Gujarati) descent. She made her Hollywood debut at age 10 as Spartanette #9 in American Beauty (1999), then appeared as a Halloween Dancer in A Cinderella Story (2004) and as a dancer on Madonna: The Re-Invention World Tour (2004). She is best known as the "ingenue in the yellow dress" who opens Damien Chazelle's La La Land (2016), and for her recurring role as Sondi / "Devil Girl" on VH1's Hit the Floor (2013–2014). She has also toured the world with Madonna and Ricky Martin, and danced on stage and screen with Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Adele. Her filmography spans over 25 credits across film and television. Notable credits include (500) Days of Summer (2009, as Dancer), An American Carol (2008, as Columbia Student '1968'), The Muppets (2011, as Dancer), Ted 2 (2015, as Comic Con Miss India), La La Land (2016, as Traffic Dancer – Girl #1), Euphoria (2019, as Dancer), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020, as Crowd Dancer #6), Moon Manor (2022, as Remy), Sitting in Bars with Cake (2023, as Dr. Mitchell), The Bride! (2026, as Dancer), and Next in Line (2026, as Anjali). She is also a choreographer, having made her musical-theatre choreography debut on The Lunchbox under Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin, and directed her own short film In Our Wake.

Kevin Spacey

Cast · Known for American Beauty, L.A. Confidential, A Bug's Life

Kevin Spacey Fowler KBE (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, producer, and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey's first roles in film were in Mike Nichols' Heartburn (1986), and Working Girl (1988). He gained critical acclaim in the 1990s, with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller The Usual Suspects (1995) and an Academy Award for Best Actor for the midlife-crisis-themed drama American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles have included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), the comedy-drama film Swimming with Sharks (1994), the psychological thriller Seven (1995), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), the musical biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), the superhero film Superman Returns (2006), and the action film Baby Driver (2017). In Broadway theatre, Spacey starred in Long Day's Journey into Night in 1986 alongside Jack Lemmon. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers. He continued to act in theatre receiving his second Tony Award nomination for The Iceman Cometh in 1999. He was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. In 2017, he hosted the 71st Tony Awards. From 2013 to 2017, Spacey played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, which won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series as well as five consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series. In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Other men alleged that Spacey had made unwanted advances and had sexually harassed and assaulted them as well. Netflix cut ties with Spacey, shelving his film Gore and removing him from the last season of House of Cards. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World (2017) was reshot with Christopher Plummer in his place. Spacey appeared in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club (which had been completed before the allegations surfaced), which was released with his role unchanged. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kevin Spacey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Obba Babatundé

Cast · Known for The Eye, That Thing You Do!, S.W.A.T.

Obba Babatundé (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor of stage and screen, known for his Emmy-nominated performance in the television movie Miss Evers' Boys, a NAACP Image Award-nominated performance in the TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and a Tony Award-nominated role for his performance as C.C. White in the original cast of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Babatundé was a protege of Sammy Davis, Jr., who said of him, "This is the only cat who can do everything I can do." Babatundé does dance, sing, play instruments, execute impersonations, including his portrayal of Davis, aided by their similarity in energy, size and talent, tap dancing and performing on multiple instruments. In fall 2009, Babatundé played Davis in the title role of "Sammy: Once in a Lifetime," a world premiere musical at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Early in 2000, Babatundé partnered with writer/producer Ruth Adkins Robinson for a series of TV projects including "TV in Black: The First 50 Years," "Oscar's Black Odyssey: From Hattie to Hallie" and "Dorthy Dandridge: An American Beauty". The pair have projects that will take them through 2011. His TV roles have often portrayed authority figures, such as a recurring guest-starring role as a high school principal on Dawson's Creek, an appearance as a judge in a two-part episode of Any Day Now, and as the father of the main characters on Half & Half. He also played Harvard college Dean Cain in the movie How High, as well as the role of Willie Long in the movie Life, and co-starred as an attorney in Philadelphia and as a senator in the 2004 reprise of The Manchurian Candidate. He also played the director in season 3 of Friends in an episode titled "The One with All the Jealousy". Other TV shows he has had recurring roles on include The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Chicago Hope, Rocket Power, Static Shock, and Karen Sisco. He played a small but pivotal role as a doorman/bellhop in the film That Thing You Do! and also appeared in The Wild Thornberrys Movie as the voice of Boko. He played a famous producer known as Gordy Berry on two episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the 1998 miniseries, The Temptations, he played the founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy. Babatundé is adept at American sign language and had used this talent in many roles including on one NYPD Blue. His recorded work includes a performance with the New York pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs on the 2007 album Sack Full of Dreams. The actor/producer is also an avid horseman and is a highly regarded rider and trainer in the Rodeo Circuit, including the annual Bill Pickett Rodeol. ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pete Wentz

Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy, since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lead singer and songwriter for Arma Angelus, a metalcore band. During Fall Out Boy's hiatus from 2009 to 2012, Wentz formed the experimental, electropop and dubstep group Black Cards. He owns a record label, DCD2 Records, which has signed bands including Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes. Fall Out Boy returned from hiatus in February 2013, and have since released three number-one albums; Save Rock and Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho, and Mania. Wentz has also ventured into other non-musical projects, including writing, acting, and fashion; in 2005 he founded a clothing company called Clandestine Industries. He also hosts the TV show Best Ink and runs a film production company called Bartskull Films, as well as a bar called Angels & Kings. His philanthropic activities include collaborations with Invisible Children, Inc. and UNICEF's Tap Project, a fundraising project that helps bring clean drinking water to people worldwide, People magazine states that "no bassist has upstaged a frontman as well as Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy." He is also a minority owner of the Phoenix Rising FC, a USL Championship team. Description above from the Wikipedia article Pete Wentz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Neva Jane Langley

Neva Jane Langley Fickling (January 25, 1933 – November 18, 2012) was an American beauty pageant queen. Langley was born in Lakeland, Florida. As a college sophomore she transferred to Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. While attending that college she became Miss Macon, Miss Georgia, and then Miss America 1953. Ms. Langley's first television appearance as Miss America was on What's My Line (September 14, 1952) as the mystery guest. She rode the grand prize most-beautiful float by a commercial firm, called "America The Beautiful", in the January 1, 1953 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. During her reign as Miss America, she was hospitalized for one week with pneumonia. She was also known for being the only Miss Georgia to win the Miss America pageant until Betty Cantrell was crowned Miss America 2016, sixty-three years later. (Source: Wikipedia)

Brie Gabrielle

Briegitte Marie Gabrielle Baldrica (born July 4, 1990), known professionally as Brie Gabrielle, is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Florida USA 2016. She then competed for the national title at Miss USA 2016. As of September 2015, she was a co-host of the Chevy Florida Insider Fishing Report on Fox Sports Sun (Florida).

Dennis Anderson

Dennis Anderson was born on 15 February 1977 in Downey, California, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for American Beauty (1999), Matchstick Men (2003) and Six Feet Under (2001).

Allison Janney

Cast · Known for Mom, The West Wing, The Creator

Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards. Born in Boston and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Janney received a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art following her graduation from Kenyon College. After years of minor and uncredited film and television appearances, Janney's breakthrough came with the role of C. J. Cregg in the NBC political drama The West Wing (1999–2006), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2014, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Margaret Scully on the Showtime period drama Masters of Sex. For her portrayal of Bonnie Plunkett, a cynical recovering addict on the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–2021), Janney received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won twice for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Janney made her professional stage debut with the Off-Broadway production Ladies (1989), and followed with numerous bit parts in various similar productions, before making her Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of Present Laughter. She won two Drama Desk Awards and has been nominated for two Tony Awards: for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in the Broadway revival of A View from the Bridge (1997), and for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical 9 to 5 (2009). Her film roles include Private Parts (1997), Primary Colors (1998), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), American Beauty (1999), Nurse Betty (2000), The Hours (2002), Hairspray (2007), Juno (2007), The Help (2011), The Way, Way Back (2013), Tammy (2014), The Rewrite (2014), Spy (2015), Tallulah (2016), The Girl on the Train (2016), Bad Education (2019) and Bombshell (2019). She voiced roles in Finding Nemo (2003), Over the Hedge (2006), Minions (2015), and The Addams Family (2019). For her performance in the black comedy I, Tonya (2017), Janney won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award, all for Best Supporting Actress.

Patrick Stump

Cast · Composer · Known for Hazbin Hotel, Spidey and His Amazing Friends

Patrick Martin Stumph (born April 27, 1984), known professionally as Patrick Vaughn Stump, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Fall Out Boy, originally from Wilmette, Illinois. His solo work has been described as "funky and R&B infused", while Billboard noted him as "one of the best voices in pop punk". Fall Out Boy has achieved four top ten singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 and four number one albums on the Billboard 200, firstly with Infinity on High in 2007, and again in 2013 with Save Rock and Roll, 2015 with American Beauty/American Psycho, and 2018 with Mania. Stump has collaborated with other artists (including Damnation A.D. and Timbaland) and has produced albums for artists including Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes. After Fall Out Boy's hiatus in late 2009, Stump released his debut solo album, Soul Punk, on October 18, 2011. It was preceded by the six-song EP titled Truant Wave on February 22, 2011. He toured in the US and Europe in support. Fall Out Boy returned from hiatus in February 2013 with the album Save Rock and Roll, and the EP PAX AM Days. In January 2015, their sixth album American Beauty/American Psycho was released, while in January 2018 their seventh album Mania was released, both debuting at No.1 on the Billboard 200. Description above from the Wikipedia article Patrick Stump, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, where she was discovered by the Jacksons. After choreographing music videos for Janet Jackson, Abdul became a choreographer at the height of the music video era and soon thereafter she was signed to Virgin Records. Abdul's debut studio album, Forever Your Girl (1988), became one of the most successful debut albums at that time, selling seven million copies in the United States and setting a record for the most U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from a debut album: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract". Her second album, Spellbound (1991), scored the number-one singles "Rush Rush" and "The Promise of a New Day". With six number-one singles on Hot 100, Abdul tied Diana Ross for the third-most chart-toppers among female solo artists at the time. As of 2025, Abdul places seventh along with Diana Ross and Lady Gaga for the most number-one singles by female artists in the U.S. to date. Abdul was one of the original judges on the television series American Idol from 2002 to 2009, and has since appeared as a judge on The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Masked Dancer. She received choreography credits in numerous films, including Can't Buy Me Love (1987), The Running Man (1987), Coming to America (1988), Action Jackson (1988), The Doors (1991), Jerry Maguire (1996), and American Beauty (1999). She received 17 MTV Video Music Award nominations, winning five, as well as receiving the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for "Opposites Attract" in 1991. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography twice for her work on The Tracey Ullman Show, and her own performance at the American Music Awards in 1990. Abdul was honored with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is the first entertainer to be honored with the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards' Hall of Fame Award. Abdul was born in San Fernando, California. She is Jewish: her father, Harry Abdul, is of Syrian Jewish heritage and was born in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil and emigrated to the United States. Her mother, Lorraine (Rykiss), was a concert pianist of Jewish heritage, from Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada. Abdul has an older sister named Wendy. As an avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the film Singin' in the Rain. ... Source: Article "Paula Abdul" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Andy Hurley

Andrew John Hurley (born May 31, 1980) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and was in the band's lineup until its hiatus in 2009. Following that, he formed the heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things with Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman; the group went on hiatus after its debut album, Ironiclast (2010), due to band members focusing on their original bands' new album cycles. Hurley moved on to hardcore punk band Enabler which released a debut album and toured in 2012. Fall Out Boy regrouped and announced a new album and tour on February 4, 2013. The band's fifth studio album, Save Rock and Roll, was released April 16, 2013, with the punk EP PAX AM Days announced on September 30 and was released on October 15 the same year. The band's sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho was released on January 16, 2015 and debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200. Description above from the Wikipedia article Andy Hurley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.